A key Sunni party in the Iraqi legislature has proposed Adnan al-Dulaimi as nominee for the parliament speaker, a source said on Wednesday.

Sunni lawmaker Hussein Fallujayi told Xinhua that the Iraqi Consensus Front had decided to propose al-Dulaimi as candidate for the top parliamentary post, dropping previous choice of Tareq al- Hashemi.

The nomination was backed by most of the legislators, he added.

Al-Dulaimi, a top Sunni politician, is head of the Iraqi Consensus Front.

In addition, Fallujayi said that the Kurdish bloc had also proposed its candidate for the post of deputy speaker, but did not reveal further details.

Meanwhile, Fallujayi said that he was "surprised" at the insistence of the Shiite bloc on nominating incumbent Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for a second term.

The Iraqi parliament is expected to convene on Thursday, but deadlock over the premiership remained unsolved as al-Jaafari refused to step down.

The upcoming parliament session has drawn world attention as Iraq has not formed a national unity government four months after the December elections.

Source: Xinhua