Iraq
Coordination Framework meeting in Baghdad on March 21, 2022. Photo: State of Law Coalition media
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The political deadlock in Iraq continues as pro-Iran Shiite parties said on Tuesday that they have no interest in setting deadlines for the formation of a new government as this will further delay the political impasse in the country, almost two weeks after top Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr set a fixed time period of 40 days for the parties to form a government without him.
The Coordination Framework, a parliamentary faction consisting of pro-Iran Shiite parties, held a meeting on Monday evening to discuss the current political deadlock in Iraq and the delay in the formation of a new government.
During the meeting, the factions addressed Sadr's 40-day window, stating that they were "not concerned in any way with setting time periods that will not produce anything but prolonging the period of political deadlock and obstruct the interests of the people." The remarks oppose the time range put in place by Sadr for the parties to complete the process.
“The Coordination Framework is very keen to cooperate with the other political powers, especially within the largest component, to achieve the interests of the country,” al-Ahad TV cited a statement from the Coordination Framework released in the early morning hours of Tuesday, adding that they have not asked for nor attempted to be the sole holders of authority in the country.
Sadr announced on March 31 that he will be stepping back from the government formation process temporarily, allowing the “obstructing third” to hold negotiations with all political parties around forming a national majority government, referring to pro-Iran political parties and their allies who have so-far boycotted parliamentary sessions in a bid to prevent Sadr and his Sunni and Kurdish allies from creating a majority at the legislature.
The Coordination Framework and their allies insist on a new government being set up based on political consensus, an idea which has been repeatedly opposed by Save the Homeland Alliance, consisting of the the Sadrist bloc, the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who are attempting to form a national majority government.
The Iraqi parliament was scheduled to elect a new president in March, but failed to do so on three different occasions. The Save the Homeland Alliance was unable to secure the minimum two-thirds needed to hold the parliamentary session on the occasions, failing to meet the legal quorum and leading to the legislature’s inability to elect a president. The session to elect the president has been adjourned, with no future date provided.
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