Iraq Press Roundup

Row over speaker highlights political divisions

The Iraqi Parliament failed Monday to consider positions for the speaker of Parliament following the withdrawal of six blocs from weekend sessions, Azzaman reported Monday.

Lawmakers adjourned the Sunday session as concerns mounted over the durability of the Parliament. The Legislature was left without a speaker following the resignation of Mahmoud Mashhadani in December.

Members of the Shiite Dawa Party, Fadhila, Sadrist Movement and the Islamic Dawa Party-Iraq Organization withdrew from the Sunday session, as did members of the Sunni National Dialogue Council and the National Dialogue Front.

Several parties and independents offered names for the speaker position. To elect a new speaker, 138 members of the 275-member Parliament need to approve the candidate.

Some candidates had offered to withdraw their name from consideration with the hopes of moving the process forward, though lawmakers adjourned Monday without reaching an agreement.

Speaker vetting threatens Parliament

The Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front accused rival lawmakers of trying to thwart the political process in Iraq by withdrawing from a weekend meeting, Sot al-Iraq reported Monday.

Members of the IAF said they were reviewing measures to dissolve the Parliament following a walkout by members of six blocs -- four Shiite and two Sunni -- from a weekend vetting session over the position of speaker.

Bassim al-Hasani with the Shiite Fadhila Party said his members walked out of the weekend session in protest over a candidate, Ayad al-Samarrai, from the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party.

Omar al-Karbouli with the IIP, blamed the IAF for making decisions that harmed the political process in Iraq.

IAF spokesman Salim Abdullah al-Jubouri, meanwhile, said the Iraqi Parliament is not meeting its obligation to the Iraqi people in its continued delays over the speaker post.

A de facto power-sharing agreement among lawmakers allocates the speaker position to Sunni officials.

Political reform is an Iraqi matter

Lawmakers voiced opposition to what they perceived to be interference in the Iraqi political process by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, al-Sabaah reported Monday.

Biden told an audience in Virginia last week that Washington must remain "very deeply involved" in Iraq to help the country achieve political reconciliation.

"We're going to have to get in there and be much more aggressive in forcing them to deal with these issues," he said, speaking of the reconciliation process.

Abbas al-Bayati with the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance slammed the statement, saying it sent the wrong message to the Iraqi people, especially after the success of the January provincial elections.

He said it appeared Biden's understanding of the situation in Iraq is years behind current trends, adding his country is in a position to find Iraqi solutions to Iraqi problems.

Abdul Kareem al-Samarrai with the Sunni Accordance Front, meanwhile, blasted the vice presidential statements but said Iraq still has a long way to go to overcome internal political disputes.

Others said it was an untimely comment as Iraq and the United States hammered out their long-term relationship under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement signed with the previous administration.

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(Edited by Daniel Graeber)