The Iraqi parliament elected Mohammad Al-Halbousi as a new speaker on Saturday, marking the first step towards establishing the new government four months after an inconclusive national election.

Al-Halbousi tallied 169 votes to beat out Khalid al-Obaidi’s 89, local media reported.

Al-Halbusi was governor of the province of Anbar, one of the main battlegrounds of the war against the ISIL Takfiri group, until he was elected to parliament on a local list in May.

In Iraq, the speaker of parliament is always Sunni Arab while the prime minister is picked from the Shiite majority and the president is a Kurd.

Parliament was due to elect a speaker and two deputies during its first meeting on Sept 3, but failed to do so as lawmakers were still trying to determine which competing bloc had the most seats.

Source: Agencies