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.

 



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.