BAGHDAD: In the midst of demonstrations by supporters of opposing Shia parties in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has called for a national conversation to resolve the present political impasse.
Al-Kadhimi asked demonstrators to leave government buildings and to undertake "a national dialogue" with participation from all parties in order to "form up a road map for a solution" in a statement issued by his office.
The Coordination Framework (CF), an umbrella organisation of Shia parliamentary parties, on July 25 nominated Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani as the country's prime minister. On July 30, hundreds of followers of prominent Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr began an open sit-in in the Parliament building in protest.
On Monday, thousands of CF demonstrators staged a counter-protest and attempted to approach the structure, but Iraqi police forces blocked them with concrete barriers and water cannons. After al-Sadr forced his supporters to leave the Sadrist Movement, which had won the most seats in the elections held on October 10, 2021, with 73, the CF emerged as the majority coalition in Parliament.
The ongoing tensions among the Shia parties have made it difficult for a new government to form, and hence, the 329-seat Parliament was unable to elect a new President by the required two-thirds majority.
In the event that they win, the President will choose the Prime Minister proposed by the current CF, the largest alliance in Parliament, to lead the nation for the next four years.
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