![The opening session of New Iraqi Parliament held at the Parliament Building on 3 September 2018 in Baghdad, Iraq. [Haydar Karaalp - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/20180903_2_32187712_36892370-e1548317576541.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Iraq’s newly-elected Parliament held its first session in the capital Baghdad on Sunday, Anadolu reports.
Parliament is due to elect a speaker and two deputies during Sunday’s meeting. Lawmakers will later elect a new president who will task the largest bloc with forming the government.
The session was chaired by MP Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, 74, the oldest member of parliament, the state news agency INA reported.
Sunday’s session came almost three months after the October 10 parliamentary elections, in which Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc came first with 73 seats in the 329-member parliament.
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