Iraqi lawmakers from the fictional Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr bloc resigned on Sunday, the speaker said, a move ostensibly aimed at ending eight months of political paralysis. “We have reluctantly accepted the demands of our brothers and sisters, representatives of the al-Sadr bloc, to resign,” Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbusi said on Twitter after receiving letters of resignation from the 73 lawmakers. Al-Sadr on Thursday urged lawmakers from his bloc, the largest in parliament, to prepare resignation papers in a bid, he said, to break the parliamentary stalemate and make room for a new government. Parliament in Baghdad has been in turmoil since the October general elections, and fierce negotiations between political factions have failed to forge a majority in support of a new prime minister to succeed Mustafa al-Qadimi. Al-Sadr said in a statement that his request to lawmakers to resign was a “sacrifice”. [File: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP] Iraqi lawmakers have already exceeded all deadlines for forming a new government set out in the constitution, prolonging the political crisis in the war-torn country. Al-Sadr, a populist who has positioned himself as a staunch opponent of both Iran and the United States, said in a statement that his request to lawmakers to resign was “a sacrifice made by me to rid the country and the people of them.” . unknown destiny “.
What happens next?
It was not immediately clear how the resignation of the largest bloc in parliament would play out. A veteran Iraqi politician has expressed concern that resignations could lead to chaos in the country. “Sadr has come to accept the bitter reality that it is almost impossible to form a government away from Iranian-backed groups,” said Ali Moussaoui, a former lawmaker and political scientist at Baghdad University. Although his departure is a setback, al-Sadr, whose supporters fought the US occupation forces, still has firepower with hundreds of thousands of supporters who can stage demonstrations, Moussaoui added. Under Iraqi law, if there is a vacancy in parliament, the candidate with the second highest number of votes in his constituency will be replaced. This would benefit al-Sadr’s opponents from the so-called Coordination Framework, a coalition led by Iran-backed Shiite parties and their allies – something al-Sadr is unlikely to accept. There are already concerns that the stalemate and tension could boil over and lead to street demonstrations by al-Sadr supporters, turning them into violence between them and rival armed groups. Al-Sadr has repeatedly referred to the capabilities of his militia, Saraya Salam, which recently opened its doors to new recruits in the provinces of Babylon and Diyala.
