Iraq's parliament schedules Sunday session to choose president

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

The Iraqi parliament said on Friday it will hold a session on Sunday to elect the country's new president.

The session, set to begin at 11:00 a.m. local time (0800 GMT), will also include the constitutional oath for some newly elected lawmakers.

A previous session on Tuesday was postponed after Iraq's two main Kurdish parties failed to reach an agreement.

Iraq held parliamentary elections in November. Under the constitution, parliament must elect a president within 30 days of its first session, which was held on Dec. 29. The president then has 15 days to nominate the leader of the largest parliamentary bloc as the prime minister to form a new cabinet, which must win a confidence vote within 30 days.

Iraq's Coordination Framework, a Shiite-led alliance and the largest parliamentary bloc, on Jan. 24 nominated former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to head the next government.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Washington would "no longer help Iraq" if al-Maliki returned to power. Al-Maliki dismissed the comments on Wednesday as "blatant U.S. interference" and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

Under Iraq's post-2003 ethno-sectarian power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for a Kurd, the parliamentary speaker for a Sunni Muslim, and the prime minister for a Shiite Muslim.