Iraqi lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state on Monday after the Supreme Court halted the bid by Kurdish politician Hoshyar Zebari. Iraq needs a president before it can form a government.
A two-thirds quorum of the legislature’s 329 members is required for an electoral session. Monday’s vote could not be held as lawmakers, many of them allied with powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, stayed away. Only 58 legislators out of 329 turned up for the vote.
The failure to elect a president reflects the deep divisions among Iraq’s political factions that have only grown since the Oct. 10 parliament elections, whose results have been rejected by political groups supported by neighboring Iran.
Many lawmakers said they boycotted the proceedings after the Supreme Court suspended former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari’s presidential bid over graft allegations.
The former minister was considered a frontrunner along with incumbent Barham Salih.
This delay has raised concerns of a presidential vacuum that would also prevent the appointment of a prime minister.
The delay is also a blow to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the biggest winner of last October’s election. The populist cleric had vowed to form a government quickly.
Sadr, the Kurdish Democratic Party, and an alliance of Sunni Muslim lawmakers had supported Zebari’s bid for president.
“The majority of the political parties boycotted today’s session due to the lack of a political agreement over the president post,” Sunni lawmaker Mishaan Jabouri told the Reuters news agency.
“Parliament will not convene until an agreement is in place.”
The new president would be expected to ask the largest parliamentary bloc to form a new government.
Political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari said the failure to elect a president is a prelude to political crises that will continue to rage in Iraq until a consensus can be reached.
“Continuing to violate the constitution is an indication of the depth of the political differences between the political blocs and political forces in Iraq,” he said.
With no quorum, Parliament Speaker; Mohammed al-Halbousi, kept the session open but has not scheduled a new date for a vote.