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Iraq parliament elects speaker

July 15, 2014

After several failed attempts, Iraqi lawmakers have broken a deadlock and elected a new speaker of parliament. The appointment potentially paves the way for the formation of a new government.

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Iraq's oldest MP Mahdi al-Hafidh chairs the first session of the new parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, 01 July 2014. EPA/ALI ABBAS
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Iraqi lawmakers on Tuesday chose Sunni politician Salim al-Jabouri as the new speaker after several previous sessions failed to bridge differences within the legislative body.

Al-Jabouri received 194 votes in the 328-seat parliament.

The position of speaker is the first of three leadership posts on which the parliament - wracked by divisions between Sunni, Kurdish and Shiite blocs - must decide upon to form a government, three months after a parliamentary election.

It was unclear whether al-Jabouri's election was part of a larger agreement between the political blocs for the posts of president and, most importantly, the powerful position of prime minister.

Under an informal agreement, the speaker's chair is assigned to a Sunni, the presidency to a Kurd and the prime minister's job to a Shiite.

The parliamentary deliberations have progressed slowly despite pressure from inside Iraq and abroad to form a government capable of uniting the country and combating an insurgency that has seen Sunni militants overrunning large swaths of northern and western Iraq.

tj/msh (dpa, AP, Reuters)