Newspapers issued in Baghdad today, Thursday, May 23, focused on the participation of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani in the condolences and funeral of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, and the options for resolving the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Al-Sabah newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Media Network, highlighted with a prominent headline on its front page, al-Sudani’s participation in the mourning and funeral ceremonies of the late Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi.
The newspaper said: ‘Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani offered his condolences in Tehran yesterday, Wednesday, on the passing of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian and their companions, who were killed when the helicopter they were traveling in on a domestic flight crashed last Sunday.’
It referred to the Prime Minister’s meeting, prior to his participation in the official condolence ceremony, with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Ali Khamenei, to offer condolences on the death of Raisi, Abdullahian, and their companions.
It added: ‘Al-Sudani expressed his sincere condolences to Khamenei and to the Iranian government and people for this painful incident, stressing Iraq’s solidarity and its standing, as a government and a people, with Iran in these difficult times. He pointed to the depth of the relations between the two countries, and the emphasis on continuing to activate the bilateral agreements between them, especially Iraq was awaiting an official visit by Raisi (may God have mercy on him) at the end of this month, as his painful departure represented a loss for the region and not only for Iran, as he was a person who worked efficiently and responsibly for peace and cooperation among all countries of the region.’
Al-Sabah continued: ‘Al-Sudani renewed his praise for the late president’s boigraphy, noting his stature and the tangible services he provided to the Iranian people, his regional and international peace and stability eff
orts, and his work to strengthen fruitful partnerships with Iraq and the rest of the countries of the region.’
The newspaper touched on Khamenei’s affirmation of the strength of relations between Iran and Iraq, and Iran’s continuation of the same approach in cooperation and caring for bilateral interests.
Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, focused on the options for resolving the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The MP of the State of Law coalition, member of the Parliamentary Education Committee, Firas Al-Muslimaoui, said in an interview with Al-Zawraa: ‘The issue of electing the Speaker of the House of Representatives is resolved within the Sunni component, and the solution lies in Sunni-Sunni dialogue and concessions from all Sunni parties, and giving priority to the public interest in order to determine a mechanism to select a person to fill the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives and to resolve this long-delayed issue.’
Al-Muslimaoui added: ‘The House of Representatives now acts as a Acting presidency, as it is the highest legislative institution in the country. It must have a role in legislating important laws and performing the oversight role, and this is what we expect from the House of Representatives.’
He continued: “We are facing a great responsibility that cannot be waived or stopped, which is legislating laws, performing the oversight role, and approving the budget schedules, considering that the budget we voted on is a tripartite budget for three continuous years.”
For his part, a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, MP Muhammad Al-Khafaji, said in a statement to the newspaper: ‘In the second session to elect the Speaker of the House of Representatives, none of the candidates obtained the absolute majority achieved in this session of 166 MPs or votes, so we are facing a third session to elect the President.’
He added: ‘In the third session, we are facing one scenario. In the event that an absolute majorit
y is not obtained, a fourth session will take place, and so on, so we are continuing,’ stressing that the issue could be resolved through a political agreement, perhaps, or with the withdrawal of one of the candidates in favor of the other candidate.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency