Daily Times

A year on from Iraq’s elections, major political parties announced Tuesday they want parliament to convene within days to hold a confidence vote in their proposed government. Lawmakers last week finally elected a new president who in turn nominated a prime minister, following infighting between key Shiite Muslim factions that has paralysed political life for months. “The coalition has announced its intention to ask parliament to meet on Saturday for a vote on the government,” a statement by the Coalition for the Administration of the State said on Tuesday. The coalition includes the Coordination Framework, an alliance of powerful pro-Iran Shiite factions that holds 138 out of 329 seats in parliament. Other members are a Sunni grouping led by parliament speaker Mohamed al-Halbussi, and two key Kurdish parties. The nominee for the post of prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, has 30 days from October 13 to form a government. The balance of parliamentary power shifted decisively in favour of the Coordination Framework from late June, when it took the majority of seats vacated by a rival Shiite faction led by mercurial cleric Moqtada Sadr. After abandoning parliament to his foes, Sadr initially tried to hinder government formation, calling for the assembly to be dissolved as a precursor to early legislative elections.