Iraq will replace Muqtada Al-Sadr’s bloc, says Speaker

• Iraq’s parliament will take legal steps to replace Muqtada Al-legislative Sadr’s bloc, Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi said.
• The Sadrist faction resigned en masse after Al-Sadr asked them to during a protracted deadlock over creating a cabinet.

Iraq’s parliament will take legal steps to replace Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-legislative Sadr’s bloc, as per parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi, who was in Jordan on Monday.

On Sunday, the Sadrist faction resigned en masse after Al-Sadr asked them to do so during a protracted deadlock over creating a cabinet.

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However, the parliament has been unable to pick a president or create a cabinet due to political squabbling.

“If the Sadrist bloc’s survival is an obstacle to the formation of a government, then all of the bloc’s representatives are ready to resign from parliament,” the priest stated.

“A sacrifice from me for the country and the people to rid them of the unknown destiny,” he said of his parliamentary bloc’s resignation.

At a press conference in Amman on Monday, Al-Halbousi said Al Sadr’s group opted to be the “scapegoat” after failing to establish a majority coalition in parliament.

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