Iraqi lawmakers on Sunday elected Iyad al-Samarrai, a Muslim brother and prominent Sunni politician, as speaker of parliament after the position remained unfilled for nearly four months. Samarrai, the head of the parliamentary delegation of the National Concord Front, the country's largest Sunni bloc, was elected by a majority of 153 votes in the 275-member assembly to the office which is reserved for a Sunni Arab.
His sole opponent, Mustafa al-Hiti, received 34 votes, and 45 ballot papers were left blank. Only 232 MPs participated in the secret ballot, according to a parliamentary official.