Vote on new speaker exacerbates divisions

Parliament’s failure to vote in a new speaker on Saturday reflects divisions within the Coordination Framework over which candidate to back. Those who vehemently oppose Mohammed Al-Halbusi’s nominee appear intent on preventing another vote until they can be sure of the outcome.

Saturday’s vote in parliament produced a shock result when Shalan Al-Krayim, the Taqaddum Party candidate, came out well ahead of his rivals with 152 out of 314 votes. He fell just short of the 165 votes needed to secure an absolute majority. Khamis Al-Khanjar’s nominee, Salim Al-Eisawi, won 97 votes, while Azm’s Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani picked up just 48 votes.

The Coordination Framework could not agree on which candidate to back, and it appears that both Hadi Al-Ameri’s Badr and Ammar Al-Hakim’s Hikma voted in favor of Krayim, while Qais Al-Khazali’s Sadiqun backed Eisawi. As expected, Nouri Al-Maliki’s open backing of Mashhadani backfired and put the former speaker of parliament out of the running.