Baghdad: Legal expert and adviser Salem Hawas stated that the current political landscape clearly shows that the Sunni component, in partnership with the Kurdish forces, now holds a ‘guaranteeing and blocking one-third’ in the process of selecting the President of the Republic, as a result of the parliamentary balances produced by the recent election outcomes.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Hawas explained that the influence of this one-third is not limited to the presidency alone, but also extends to the process of agreeing on the largest parliamentary bloc, which represents the constitutional basis for nominating the Prime Minister.

He added that the Shiite blocs do not possess the required majority of 220 seats that would allow them to unilaterally determine key decisions, while Sunnis and Kurds together control more than one-third of parliament-granting them legal and political power to block decisions in the absence of consensus.

The legal expert noted that having this one-third gives the Su
nni component and its Kurdish partner a central role in managing political balances, making any major decision, whether electing the President or defining the largest parliamentary bloc, dependent on a genuine agreement that includes these parties and does not bypass them.

Hawas concluded that this new balance compels political forces to adopt a real partnership in decision-making, stressing that the ‘guaranteing and blocking one-third’ will remain a decisive factor in either calming crises or exacerbating them, depending on the level of understanding among the main components of the political process.