Members of the Iraqi parliament have made a request to convene a meeting to elect a new president on October 12, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported on Monday
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2022) Members of the Iraqi parliament have made a request to convene a meeting to elect a new president on October 12, the Iraqi news Agency (INA) reported on Monday.
The first deputy speaker of the parliament, Muhsin al-Mandalawi, received a document signed by 170 deputies demanding to hold a meeting on Wednesday to elect a new president, the agency reported.
On October 1, demonstrators in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad decided to halt massive anti-government protests in the city center, giving the authorities until October 25 to get out of the political crisis. The protesters threatened to intensify protests otherwise and demanded a transitional government be formed under the auspices of the UN.
Iraq has been facing a political deadlock since the parliamentary elections in October 2021. Political bloc of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr won the elections but reverted to the opposition in May and stepped down in June after several unsuccessful attempts to form a government.
Al-Sadr's supporters resumed protests in Baghdad in late July, breaking into the parliament building and refusing to leave it. The protests were triggered by the nomination of Mohammed Sudani, another representative of Shiite parties in the Iraqi parliament except for al-Sadr's bloc, for the post of prime minister. Sudani represents the Coordination Framework, an Iran-backed alliance of Shiite forces forming the largest bloc in the Iraqi legislature.
In August, al-Sadr called on authorities to dissolve the parliament and schedule next general elections, however the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq declined the request. Later that month, al-Sadr urged his supporters to leave the government's "Green Zone" in the center of Baghdad and stop armed confrontation with security forces and Shiite militias that joined them.
Occasional demonstrations and skirmishes have continued, as the country remains in the throes of deep economic crisis, unemployment and other issues.
