The Iraqi Parliament met on Tuesday hoping to elect a speaker, in efforts to reach a political breakthrough that could ultimately lead to the formation of a new government. The meeting came as the Iraqi Army launched a major air assault on Tikrit in an effort to flush out the remaining Sunni militants in that city, which lies 95 miles north of Baghdad. The leading candidate for the post of speaker is Salim al-Jubouri, a member of the main Sunni bloc in Parliament. He was selected on Saturday by the Sunni bloc and his candidacy was being voted on by the full Parliament on Tuesday morning. The effort to elect a speaker came after the United Nations warned of “chaos” if lawmakers failed to start the process of forming a government. By custom, a Sunni holds the position of speaker in the Parliament, a Kurd holds the […]