Iraq .. Consultations to choose the prime minister and protests continue in Baghdad and Najaf

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi will meet today heads of parliamentary blocs to discuss the mechanism of assigning a new prime minister, succeeding Adel Abdul Mahdi, who submitted his resignation yesterday officially under the pressure of the street.

This coincides with the continuing protests calling for comprehensive reform and fighting corruption in both Tahrir and Khalani squares in Baghdad and in Najaf in the south of the country.

A source in the Iraqi Council of Representatives said that the meeting of Halbousi and heads of parliamentary blocs will also discuss today the draft legislative elections law, and the draft law of the Electoral Commission, which was put before the parliament recently.

Several parliamentary blocs in the House of Representatives expressed objections to the provisions of the election law, which is expected to vote during the next sessions.

Party meetings
Even before the parliament formally approved the resignation of Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Iraqi political parties began meetings and "continuous meetings" to discuss the features of the next phase, AFP quoted a political source as "high".

Halbousi had announced - after the Iraqi parliament officially accepted the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi on Sunday - that he is coordinating with President Barham Saleh to choose a new prime minister.

The "Sairon" bloc - backed by Sadr's leader Muqtada al-Sadr, which is the largest bloc in parliament - has ceded to submit a candidate for the post of prime minister "to the people to choose who deems appropriate for this post."

The Iraqi political forces have 45 days to form a new government to succeed Abdul Mahdi's government, while waiting for his government to manage and conduct daily business until the new government is formed and take over its functions.

The resignation of the government has so far not limited the momentum of continued popular protests in Baghdad and southern cities.

Najaf and Baghdad
On the ground, local sources in Najaf province said that a relative calm prevailed in the city after a tense night in which demonstrators burned the Iranian consulate for the second time. As the city and all of Tahrir and Khalani squares in Baghdad continued protests demanding reform.

In the northern and western provinces, thousands of students in Anbar, Tikrit, Mosul and Kirkuk universities held solidarity stands in support of the people of Nasiriyah, Najaf and Tandida, killing and wounding hundreds of people from the two governorates in recent days.

The demonstrators condemned the killing and wounding of hundreds of people from the provinces of Dhi Qar, Najaf and the capital Baghdad during the past few days, as a result of what they called the security forces suppression of peaceful demonstrators, and fired live bullets at them.

Participants called for protests to prosecute officers responsible for what they described as crimes against peaceful protesters. Students from the four universities also performed absentee prayers for those killed during the protests.

The Iraqi judiciary issued arrest warrants for the aggressors against the demonstrators in Najaf without naming them, and the right of the military commander Jamil al-Shammari for issuing orders that killed dozens of demonstrators in Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar province.