Iraqi Parliament commences 45th session

BAGHDAD, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Parliament kicked off its 45th regular session Wednesday with First Deputy Speaker Khalid al-Attiya of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance presiding.

Iraqi lawmakers adjourned last week without a budget and without a speaker of Parliament. Mahmoud Mashhadani resigned from the position in December, leaving the Parliament effectively stalled.

Lawmakers in a runoff vote Thursday fell just short of the majority needed in the 275-member Parliament to nominate Iyad al-Samarrai with the Iraqi Accordance Front, a parliamentary bloc.

Influential cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, met with Attiya at his Baghdad office to discuss the vetting process for speaker as well as the 2009 budget, the Voices of Iraq news agency reports.

Meanwhile, members of the IAF met with lawmakers with the Kurdish Alliance to discuss a power-sharing agreement in Diyala province in the wake of the January provincial elections.

"We have agreed to form a local government in Diyala after the announcement of the provincial elections results," Kurdish lawmaker Haimen Mansour said.

A lawmaker from the IAF will sit as Diyala's governor, while a Kurdish lawmaker will serve as provincial council chairman.

Elections results released Thursday show the IAF won Diyala with nine seats, while the Kurds tied for second place with six.