Iraqi PM calls for arrest of boycotting MPs, parliamentarian says
BAGHDAD – Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi reportedly called on Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri Tuesday to arrest boycotting MPs.
"Haider al-Abadi, through Salim Jabouri, calls for our arrest," said Hanan Fatlawi, head of the Irada (Will) faction in the Iraqi Parliament.
Earlier Tuesday, Abadi was prevented from speaking in parliament, amid a growing political crisis and large demonstrations in Baghdad for urgent reforms and a government reshuffle.
Rudaw video footage from inside the house showed MPs screaming and calling on Abadi to leave the chamber.Ammera Zangana, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw that 171 MPs attended Tuesday’s session in the 328 seat parliament.
Abadi was in parliament as hundreds of angry protesters took to the streets of Baghdad – part of a proclaimed million-man march – warning that parliament must vote on a technocratic government today.
As protesters, who had poured into the capital on the orders of Muqtada al-Sadr, vented their anger with chants at the city’s giant Tahrir Square, an estimated 10,000 fighters loyal to the firebrand Shiite cleric surrounded the venue, in the name of providing security for the anti-government demonstrations.
"Haider al-Abadi, through Salim Jabouri, calls for our arrest," said Hanan Fatlawi, head of the Irada (Will) faction in the Iraqi Parliament.
Earlier Tuesday, Abadi was prevented from speaking in parliament, amid a growing political crisis and large demonstrations in Baghdad for urgent reforms and a government reshuffle.
Rudaw video footage from inside the house showed MPs screaming and calling on Abadi to leave the chamber.Ammera Zangana, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw that 171 MPs attended Tuesday’s session in the 328 seat parliament.
Abadi was in parliament as hundreds of angry protesters took to the streets of Baghdad – part of a proclaimed million-man march – warning that parliament must vote on a technocratic government today.
As protesters, who had poured into the capital on the orders of Muqtada al-Sadr, vented their anger with chants at the city’s giant Tahrir Square, an estimated 10,000 fighters loyal to the firebrand Shiite cleric surrounded the venue, in the name of providing security for the anti-government demonstrations.