Baghdad, March 6 ( /Xinhua) The Iraqi Council of Representatives (parliament) on Saturday voted to reopen the nomination for the post of president of the country. A statement by the parliament said that 203 lawmakers voted in favor of opening the candidacy, while 62 deputies abstained. The decision came after the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the reopening decision for nomination might be valid if it was made through the legislative body instead of the speaker. The parliament had previously scheduled Feb. 7 as the date for electing the country’s president. However, only 58 lawmakers attended the session, well below the quorum of two-thirds of the 329-seat chamber. One day later, the parliamentary speaker announced the reopening of registration for presidential candidates. On Oct. 10, 2021, Iraq held the parliamentary election, where Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Sadrist Movement emerged as the biggest winner with 73 out of the 329 seats. Under Iraq’s power-sharing system, the president should be an ethnic Kurd, the prime minister a Shiite, and the parliament speaker a Sunni. Once elected, the new president will ask the largest parliamentary bloc to name a prime minister-designate to form a government within 30 days. /XINHUA GNK
