The Sadrist bloc in Iraq announced this morning, suddenly, freezing negotiations with all political blocs regarding the formation of the next government.
The bloc also called on all its deputies not to attend the next parliament session scheduled for tomorrow, Monday, to choose a president of the republic.
Yesterday, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called on his political alliance in Parliament not to vote for the Kurdistan Democratic Party's candidate for the presidency, Hoshyar Zebari, in the event that he did not meet the conditions.
pic.twitter.com/eajxdIaN16
— Muqtada al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr (@Mu_AlSadr) February 4, 2022
Al-Sadr said, in a tweet to him on Twitter, "If the candidate of the ally of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - rather an absolute - for the presidency of the republic does not meet the conditions, I call on the representatives of Islah (Sairoon Alliance) not to vote for him.
He added, "We are advocates of reform, not advocates of authority and rule, without al-Sadr specifying in his tweet the conditions that must be met by a candidate for the presidency.
Al-Sadr's tweet comes days after Parliament scrutinized the resumes of the presidential candidates, and gave it the green light for 25 candidates to compete for the position, including Zebari.
Zebari confirmed that his candidacy for the presidency of Iraq is final and past until the end (Associated Press)
The Kurdistan Democratic Party had announced its candidacy of Zebari for the post of President of the Republic, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan presented the current president, Barham Salih, as its candidate for the post for a second term.
For his part, Zebari said in an interview broadcast on state television (Al-Iraqiya), Friday, that his candidacy for the post of President of the Republic is definitive and past to the end.
He added that the vote needs two-thirds of the members of Parliament, "and we have to mobilize to get the sufficient number of votes."
He continued, "Our insistence on the position of the President of the Republic is an electoral entitlement, not a patriotic one, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan took its chance in the presidency for 17 continuous years."
Since 2006, the political custom in Iraq has been for the Kurds to hold the presidency, the Shiites to be the prime minister, and the Sunnis to head the parliament.
The National Union Party has maintained the position of president since 2006, while the Democratic Party's share during the last period was one of the sovereign ministries, either finance or foreign affairs.
Representatives of the Shiite coordination framework refuse to vote in favor of Zebari, against the background of his accusation of financial corruption files during his assumption of the Ministry of Finance, while it was not clear their final position towards the other candidates, while the independent forces in Parliament did not announce their position towards the other candidates for the position of the presidency.
Yesterday, the leader of the State of Law coalition and leader in the coordination framework, Nuri al-Maliki, said that the project proposed by the framework (which includes all Shiite political forces, except for the Sadrist movement) is the necessity of consensus on the next prime minister, and the adoption of electoral merit in government representation.
Al-Maliki called for consensus on the next prime minister, and the adoption of the electoral maturity in government representation (Al-Jazeera)
Al-Maliki added, in a statement after a meeting that included the parties to the coordination framework and a delegation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to discuss the formation of the government, adding that the coordination framework is keen to agree with the rest of the national forces in order to speed up the formation of the government, in accordance with the constitution and the law.
In a related context, the leader of the "Wisdom" coalition, Ammar al-Hakim, said yesterday that there is no meaning for an expanded national majority if a successful service government is not produced.
Al-Hakim stressed that the next government should pave the way for greater national unity, and not be at the expense of what he called the "largest component" and its rights and existence, in reference to the Shiite component.
Al-Hakim said that the unity of the largest social component should be a target for other components seeking stability, partnership and balance, as he put it.
Al-Hakim called on the Sunnis and the Kurds not to send wrong messages that would hurt the feelings of their Shiite partners in the process of forming the next government.