The inaugural sitting of the Iraqi Parliament marked by scenes of chaos
The deputies of the coalition led by Moqtada al-Sadr arrive at the Iraqi Parliament on January 9, 2022. AP - Ali Abdul Hassan
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Chaotic scenes to say the least punctuated the inaugural session of the new Iraqi Parliament.
Altercations which bode badly for the negotiations in progress for the appointment of the new Prime Minister.
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According to one of the Iraqi deputies present in the precincts of the Parliament, the session began normally with the swearing-in of the newly elected officials.
Then everything went wrong when one of the Shiite coalitions claiming victory in last October's election claimed it had enough MPs to form the new government.
The chairman of the session, the dean of Parliament Mahmoud Al-Machhadani, then asked to verify the information.
He was immediately violently attacked by several deputies.
According to a parliamentary source quoted by Agence France-Presse, Mahmoud Al-Machhadani was taken ill and had to be hospitalized.
Imbroglio
This chaotic session and these altercations are the result of a political imbroglio resulting directly from
the early legislative elections
in the autumn.
Several coalitions claim victory, including that led by the Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr who, with his 73 elected out of 329, hopes to form a government with Kurdish and Sunni formations.
In front of him stands the Alliance of Conquest, a group of former pro-Iranian militias.
It was the deputies of this Alliance, which claims to have been the victim of electoral fraud, who violently attacked the chairman of the session.
The meeting was suspended for over an hour.
Upon resumption, MPs re-elected influential Sunni parliamentarian from Al-Anbar (west) province Mohammed al-Halboussi as Speaker of Parliament.
Hakim Zamili, a Shiite, as well as the Kurdish Chakhwan Abdallah were elected as vice-president.
The Iraqi Parliament now has 30 days to elect the President of the Republic, who will have the delicate task of appointing the new Prime Minister, chosen by the largest coalition.
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