ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Voting will enter a third round on Tuesday to elect Iraq’s second deputy parliament speaker, a position traditionally held by a Kurd, after neither incumbent Shakhawan Abdullah of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nor opposition Halwest Movement lawmaker Rebwar Karim secured enough votes in the first two rounds.
The adjournment of the parliamentary session was announced in the early hours of Tuesday by newly elected Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi.
“The session has been adjourned for consultations with the political blocs regarding the election of the second deputy speaker of parliament,” Halbousi said.
The post of second deputy speaker has historically been held by a KDP member.
In the first round of voting, Karim received 153 votes, while Abdullah secured 119. In the second round, the Halwest lawmaker garnered 156 votes, compared to 102 votes for Abdullah.
Under parliamentary rules, a candidate must receive at least 165 votes to be elected.
The KDP won 27 seats in the November legislative elections, while the newly established opposition Halwest Movement secured five seats.
Following the vote count, KDP lawmaker Sherwan Dubardani told Rudaw that his party was “shocked” by the outcome, accusing some political forces of failing to honor prior agreements.
“The agreement that has been made by the KDP or our leader with other political parties, whether the Sunnis or the [Shiite Coordination] Framework, unfortunately, lawmakers do not commit to it when it comes to implementation,” Dubardani said.
“Unfortunately, a betrayal was done again. A scheme was made again,” he claimed.
Halwest leader Ali Hama Saleh, for his part, said in a Facebook statement after the first round of voting that his movement conducts “deals honestly.”
“We aren’t people who make deals and schemes. We will not lose trust,” Saleh said.
Under Iraq’s informal power-sharing system established after the 2003 US-led invasion, the position of parliament speaker is reserved for Sunni Arabs, the premiership for Shiites, and the presidency for Kurds.