Iraqi parliament swears in majority of Sadrist replacements

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over 60 new members of the Iraqi parliament were sworn in on Thursday, replacing the majority of MPs of the Sadrist bloc who resigned from the body earlier this month, while nine seats still remain vacant. 

Iraq’s parliament held an extraordinary session on Thursday, headed by Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and his second deputy Shakhawan Abdullah. The session was attended by 202 MPs, and was the first parliamentary meeting since the withdrawal of Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc earlier this month.

Sadr asked all 73 MPs of his bloc to submit their resignations to Halbousi on June 12, in an effort to put an end to the political impasse that has plagued Iraq since October’s elections. The resignations were approved by the Speaker soon after.

A total of 64 new MPs took the constitutional oath to join the parliament, with the remaining nine substitutes deciding to refrain from attending the meeting.

In a tweet following the session, Halbousi thanked Sadr for his “sacrifice”, adding that they have begun “the path for the sake of the people.”

The withdrawal of the Sadrist bloc also included the resignation of former first deputy Hakim al-Zamli from his post. Nonetheless, voting on a replacement for the first deputy position was not discussed during Thursday’s session. 

Iraq continues to be shrouded in political instability with the country yet to form its next government a staggering eight months since the elections. 

The Sadrist Movement emerged from the elections as the bloc with the highest number of seats in parliament. The bloc was seeking to form a national majority government with its allies in the Save the Homeland Alliance - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance - but faced strong opposition from the Iran-backed Shiite parliamentary faction Coordination Framework, who insisted on forming a more traditional government based on political consensus.