Iraq Parliament delays presidential vote a second time

2026-02-01 - 09:36

Shafaq News– Baghdad The Iraqi Council of Representatives has officially postponed the parliamentary session that was scheduled to convene at 11 a.m. on February 1, "until further notice." Parliament had been set to meet on January 27 for an initial session to elect the president, but the sitting was also postponed after Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi received formal requests from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) calling for a delay. Under Iraq’s informal power-sharing arrangement, the presidency is reserved for the Kurdish component and is traditionally contested between the KDP and the PUK, while the premiership is held by a Shiite figure and the speakership of parliament by a Sunni. Under constitutional timelines, parliament is required to elect a president within one month of its first session, a deadline that expired on January 28, although debate has emerged over whether the period includes official holidays, an issue discussed in consultations with Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council. This is a breaking story...