News - Middle East: Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi has announced that the legislative body is scheduled to convene on Thursday to elect a new president in an effort to end a months-long political crisis in the Arab country in the absence of a functional government.

“House of Representatives Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi set a session on Thursday, October 13, with a single item on the agenda, which is to elect the President of the Republic,” Halbousi’s media office was quoted by Iraq's al-Sumaria television network as saying in a statement on Tuesday.

The surprise announcement came more than a year after the last general election in Iraq on October 10, 2021, which was triggered by a wave of mass protests against the country’s economic crisis, rampant unemployment and decaying infrastructure.

The country has yet to form a new government since then, leaving caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi in charge.