ISTANBUL

The Iraqi Parliament will hold a session on Thursday to elect the country’s new president, Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement said Thursday’s session will have a “single item on the agenda, the election of the President of the Republic.”

The move comes as part of efforts to resolve a months-long political crisis that gripped Iraq since last year’s general election.

Iraqi political parties have failed to agree on electing a new president and prime minister since the Oct. 10, 2021 elections.

More than 30 people were killed in late August in protests staged by supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the capital Baghdad after the influential cleric said he was stepping down from politics.

* Salma Ali contributed to this report