Al-Mashhadani Fills Two-Year Vacancy as Iraq’s Parliament Speaker

Iraqi lawmakers cast their votes to elect the parliament speaker on October 31, 2024 (Parliament Media)
Iraqi lawmakers cast their votes to elect the parliament speaker on October 31, 2024 (Parliament Media)
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Al-Mashhadani Fills Two-Year Vacancy as Iraq’s Parliament Speaker

Iraqi lawmakers cast their votes to elect the parliament speaker on October 31, 2024 (Parliament Media)
Iraqi lawmakers cast their votes to elect the parliament speaker on October 31, 2024 (Parliament Media)

The Iraqi parliament elected veteran politician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as its new speaker on Thursday, ending a two-year vacancy in the position.
During the voting session, lawmakers considered candidates including al-Mashhadani, Salim al-Aisawi, Talal al-Zubai, and Amer Abdul Jabbar.
In the first round, 271 members voted, with al-Mashhadani receiving 153 votes and al-Aisawi getting 95. The Iraqi constitution requires an absolute majority—more than half of the 329 members—to win the speakership.
As a result, a second round of voting was held with 269 lawmakers participating. Al-Mashhadani won decisively, securing 182 votes to officially become the speaker of parliament.
Political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that lawmakers from the State of Law coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki, supported al-Mashhadani, creating an unusual alliance with former parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi.
Al-Halbousi, who leads the Takadum (Progress) Party representing the Sunni majority, held lengthy talks with Sunni leaders late Wednesday into Thursday. These discussions reportedly resulted in a consensus to nominate al-Mashhadani.
Initially, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan opposed al-Mashhadani’s election. However, he spoke with the party’s parliament members just hours before the vote, easing their objections.
Hours before the voting session, al-Mashhadani called on political blocs to support his candidacy to end a long-standing crisis. In contrast, rival al-Aisawi urged lawmakers to protect democracy by resisting any pressure on their political choices.
Parliamentary sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that al-Maliki and al-Halbousi arrived at the parliament before the second round of voting to rally support for al-Mashhadani, including from Sunni lawmakers who initially backed al-Aisawi.
Lawmakers had repeatedly failed to elect a parliament speaker due to deep divisions within the Sunni bloc and attempts by Shia factions to push for a single Sunni candidate.
The Shiite “Coordination Framework” controls the 329-member parliament, despite differing views among its leaders.
Al-Mashhadani, a physician with an Islamic background, has re-entered the political scene nearly 16 years after his removal as speaker of the Iraqi parliament.
Born in Baghdad in 1948, he completed his education there before attending medical school in 1966. He graduated and became a first lieutenant in the Iraqi army in 1972, serving as a physician.
Elected as parliament speaker on Thursday, al-Mashhadani is the first legislative leader in Iraq since 2003 and previously held the position of president of the Arab Parliament Union in 2008.

 



Jailed Algeria Media Mogul Gets Presidential Pardon

El Kadi's arrest sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and rights activists in both Algeria and Europe - AFP
El Kadi's arrest sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and rights activists in both Algeria and Europe - AFP
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Jailed Algeria Media Mogul Gets Presidential Pardon

El Kadi's arrest sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and rights activists in both Algeria and Europe - AFP
El Kadi's arrest sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and rights activists in both Algeria and Europe - AFP

Prominent Algerian media boss Ihsane El Kadi was freed under presidential pardon Friday on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the independence war with France, lawyers said.

Also granted pardons were several activists from the pro-democracy Hirak movement.

El Kadi, 65, who heads Interface Medias which includes the Maghreb Emergent news website and Radio M, was jailed for seven years in June 2023.

The sentence came after he had appealed an initial five-year sentence for "foreign financing of his business".

His lawyer Noureddine Ahmine posted on Facebook: "What joy! Ihsane El Kadi is free!" alongside a picture of the freed man at home with his family.

Another lawyer, Nabila Smail, posted: "At last Ihsane El Kadi is back home with his loved ones. Freed on November 1. The end of a nightmare."

Seven years is the maximum penalty under an article in Algeria's penal code which criminalizes anyone who receives "funds, a grant or otherwise... to carry out acts capable of undermining state security".

His lawyers argued that funds had been sent by his London-based daughter Tin Hinane, a shareholder in his media group, to settle debts, AFP reported.

El Kadi's arrest sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and rights activists in both Algeria and Europe.

A Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rights group petition attracted more than 10,000 signatures.

RSF on Friday expressed "immense relief" at El Kadi's release, saying it hoped this would "also signal a lifting of restrictions on press freedom".

Algeria ranks 139th out of 180 countries and territories on RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index -- three places lower than the previous year.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune signed two decrees pardoning more than 4,000 detainees to mark the anniversary of the 1956-1962 conflict that led to the North African country's independence.

Among the 2019 Hirak movement prisoners freed was Mohamed Tadjadit, 29, dubbed the "poet of the Hirak" for his recitations during the mass protests and for his posts on Facebook.

The Hirak movement erupted in February 2019, forcing long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit two months later.

Tebboune was elected the following December, and oversaw a crackdown on the protests with ramped-up policing and the imprisonment of demonstrators.

In February, rights group Amnesty International said "Algerian authorities continue to clamp down on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly", and demanded the release of those arbitrarily detained.