BAGHDAD —
Iraq’s parliament, at the center of a months-long political paralysis, is to
convene Wednesday for the first time since deadly unrest in August and a sit-in
protest by supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.
اضافة اعلان
Parliament said
in a brief statement on Monday that votes on the resignation of the assembly’s
speaker, Mohammed Al-Halbussi, and the appointment of a first deputy speaker
would top the agenda.
The move is being
seen by analysts as a vote of confidence in Halbussi.
The speaker “is
not planning to resign but by allowing a potential vote of confidence to go
ahead he is expecting his coalition partners to back him strongly”, Sajad
Jiyad, a fellow at the Century International think-tank, told AFP.
He said the aim
was to “end any further attempts to unseat him.
“This will cement
his position as political leader of Iraq’s Sunnis and put pressure on” Shiite
and Kurdish parties to form a government, Jiyad added.
Iraq’s deeply
divided political factions have failed to form a new government since
inconclusive elections last October, and the last session of parliament dates
back to July 23.
Later in July,
Sadr’s supporters stormed the assembly and staged a month-long sit-in on its
grounds.
Tensions boiled
over into clashes on August 29 between the Sadrists, rival Iran-backed
factions, and the army in which more than 30 demonstrators were killed.
The violence
followed months of disagreements between Sadr and his rivals within Iraq’s
majority Shiite camp, as the impasse has left the country without a new
government, prime minister or president since the elections almost a year ago.
Iraq’s standoff
pits Sadr against the Iran-backed Coordination Framework, which includes
lawmakers from the party of his longtime foe, ex-prime minister
Nuri Al-Maliki.
Sadr wants snap
elections and the dissolution of parliament but the rival Shiite bloc wants a
new head of government appointed before any new polls are held.
Sadr’s bloc
emerged from the 2021 elections as the biggest in the legislature, with 73
seats, but far short of a majority.
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