Monday, June 11, 2007
Parliament speaker to be replaced
Politics
(AP) - Parliament voted Monday in a closed session to remove the speaker after a series of scandals involving the controversial lawmaker, legislators said. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani will be replaced by another Sunni Arab, they said. Al-Mashhadani's behavior has repeatedly embarrassed the Sunni Arab partners in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government. Many of the house's 275 legislators viewed his behavior as unbecoming and, on occasion, erratic.
Three lawmakers said the Iraqi Accordance Front, parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc with 44 of the house's 275 seats, has pledged to offer a replacement for al-Mashhadani within a week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Al-Mashhadani, a former physician and an Islamist, is a member of the Accordance Front and will retain his seat in parliament, according to the decision. He did not attend Monday's session, which was chaired by his deputy, Shiite Khaled al-Attiyah.
The speaker has been in trouble for sometime. Last year, he barely survived a campaign by Shiite and Kurdish politicians to remove him after he said Iraqis who killed American troops should be celebrated as heroes. Last month, he slapped a fellow Sunni lawmaker in the face and called him "scum" at the end of a raucous session.
An incident on Sunday appeared to have been taken by lawmakers as the last straw. Al-Mashhadani got into a shouting match with lawmaker Firyad Mohammed Omar, a Shiite Turkoman, when he complained to the speaker about what he said was the heavy handedness of his personal security guards. Al-Mashhadani responded by heaping abuse at Omar, who complained to fellow legislators that he was also assaulted by al-Mashhadani's guards
Three lawmakers said the Iraqi Accordance Front, parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc with 44 of the house's 275 seats, has pledged to offer a replacement for al-Mashhadani within a week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Al-Mashhadani, a former physician and an Islamist, is a member of the Accordance Front and will retain his seat in parliament, according to the decision. He did not attend Monday's session, which was chaired by his deputy, Shiite Khaled al-Attiyah.
The speaker has been in trouble for sometime. Last year, he barely survived a campaign by Shiite and Kurdish politicians to remove him after he said Iraqis who killed American troops should be celebrated as heroes. Last month, he slapped a fellow Sunni lawmaker in the face and called him "scum" at the end of a raucous session.
An incident on Sunday appeared to have been taken by lawmakers as the last straw. Al-Mashhadani got into a shouting match with lawmaker Firyad Mohammed Omar, a Shiite Turkoman, when he complained to the speaker about what he said was the heavy handedness of his personal security guards. Al-Mashhadani responded by heaping abuse at Omar, who complained to fellow legislators that he was also assaulted by al-Mashhadani's guards
Labels: Firyad Mohammed Omar, Iraqi Accordance Front, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani
