In the midst of a deep political crisis, the representatives of the Sadrist bloc resign from the Iraqi parliament, and Al-Halbousi accepts it "reluctantly"

Deputies of the Sadrist bloc submitted their resignations from the Iraqi parliament on Sunday, at the request of the current leader Muqtada al-Sadr, days after al-Sadr threatened to take this step amid an ongoing political crisis since the early legislative elections in October 2021.

Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi announced his acceptance of the resignations, saying in a tweet, "We reluctantly accepted the requests of our brothers and sisters, the Sadrist bloc's representatives, to resign from the Iraqi parliament."

Al-Sadr said in a statement that he had asked the head of his bloc, which includes the largest number of deputies (73 deputies), to "submit the resignations of the sisters and brothers in the Sadrist bloc to the Speaker of Parliament."

"This step is considered a sacrifice from me for the sake of the homeland and the people to rid them of their unknown fate," he added.

Al-Jazeera correspondent stated that the coordination framework called for an urgent meeting that is currently being held at the headquarters of the head of the Al-Fateh Alliance Hadi Al-Amiri, explaining that there is a position that will be announced after the meeting, representing the opinion of the leaders of the coordination framework regarding the resignation of the Sadrist bloc deputies.

For his part, Khamis al-Khanjar, the leader of the Sovereignty Alliance, which includes the majority of Sunni MPs, expressed his appreciation for what he described as "the great sacrifice made by the Sadrist movement for the sake of the homeland and reforming the political process."

This step would increase the complexity and uncertainty of the political scene in Iraq.

The constitutional consequences of this step are not yet clear, but according to the Iraqi political analyst Hamza Haddad, "despite the Parliament Speaker's acceptance of the resignations, Parliament must still vote with an absolute majority on this after achieving a quorum," noting in a tweet that Parliament has been in recess for two months since the ninth of June. This June.

Eight months after the early legislative elections, the main political parties in the country are still unable to agree on the next government, and each of them claims to have a majority in the parliament, which includes 329 deputies.

Al-Sadr had said in a speech Thursday, "If the survival of the Sadrist bloc is an obstacle to the formation of the government, all the representatives of the bloc are ready to resign from the House of Representatives and will not disobey me."

The Sadrist movement, which heads the "Save a Homeland" alliance with the Sunni "Progress" bloc led by Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, wants to form a majority government, stressing that its bloc is the largest in parliament (155 deputies).

As for the coordination framework (83 deputies), it pushes for the formation of a consensus government, as has been the political tradition in Iraq for years.

Because of the political dispute and the inability of any party to resolve matters, Parliament failed 3 times to elect a President of the Republic, exceeding the deadlines stipulated by the Constitution.

In order to overcome the obstruction of the political horizon, several options were put forward, including the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of new elections, but Parliament can only be dissolved by a decision of the Parliament itself.