The Financial Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on the election of a new speaker to Iraq’s parliament:
While there are no signs that Iraq’s feuding blocs can agree on the premiership, politicians are now betting that behind-the-scenes machinations will deliver the nominations they want within the allotted timeframe.
“Each side thinks they have the advantage in starting the constitutional clock,” said Ramzy Mardini, an Iraq analyst at the Atlantic Council, a US think-tank. “They think they’ve got the right back-room deals to go forward, but things are not all what they seem to be.”