Iraqi president sets Dec. 29 for first session of new parliament

BAGHDAD, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid on Tuesday called on the newly elected Council of Representatives to hold its inaugural session on Dec. 29.

The Iraqi Presidency said Rashid ratified a presidential decree inviting the 329-member parliament to convene on that date, with the session to be chaired by the eldest member.

The decree follows the Federal Supreme Court's Sunday ratification of the final results of Iraq's 2025 parliamentary elections, a key step toward forming a new government.

The Nov. 11 elections saw the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework claim it had formed the largest bloc in parliament, giving it the constitutional right to nominate the next prime minister.

Under Iraq's constitution, the president must summon the new parliament within 15 days of the election ratification. The Council of Representatives will then take the constitutional oath, elect a new speaker, and vote on the president.

By the terms of Iraq's ethno-sectarian power-sharing system established after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the presidency is reserved for a Kurd, the parliamentary speaker's post for a Sunni Muslim, and the prime minister's office for a Shiite Muslim. ■