Iraqi assembly in chaos as lawmakers fail to agree on speaker

SHOUTING from their seats, lawmakers failed to agree on a parliament speaker during their second-ever National Assembly meeting yesterday, as officials continued to haggle over the role of Sunni Arabs in the new government, a role officials hope will quell the Sunni-led insurgency.

Shi’ite, Kurdish and Sunni representatives had been trying to come up with a Sunni Arab candidate that legislators promised would be announced in yesterday’s session.

Once it began, lawmakers immediately began arguing over whether to delay their decision, and the leader of the session decided to kick reporters and cameras out and take negotiations behind closed doors.