Maliki said they are prepared to make agreements but stated the parties in the Saving the Homeland Alliance were not ready to take any initiative toward a solution on disagreements between factions.
The leader of the Sadrist Movement, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said on Wednesday a "closed political situation is better than agreeing with you,” in reference to the Coordination Framework.
The Coordination Framework, one of the two largest Shia blocs in the Iraqi parliament, is a loose coalition of Shia parties composed of the Fatah Alliance of Hadi al-Amiri, Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, the Hikma Party led by Ammar al-Hakim and the Nasr Alliance, led by former prime minister Haidar al-Abadi.
The two rival alliances, Sadr’s Saving the Homeland and the Coordination Framework have sought to win allies among independent MPs in the Iraqi parliament following October’s election in 2021.
Iraqi parliament on Wednesday failed for a third time to select a new president due to a lack of quorum, prolonging the political paralysis in the war-scarred country.
The parliament’s press service said the session adjourned its season until further notice.
According to Esta Media Network only 150 out of 329 lawmakers attended the session, far short of the two-thirds quorum required for the vote.
It was the third time that the parliament could not hold the session due to a lack of quorum.
Lawmakers must first elect the head of state, by convention a member of the Kurdish minority, with a two thirds majority. The president then appoints the prime minister, a post now held by Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Among the 40 candidates for the presidency, two are considered the frontrunners: incumbent Barham Salih, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and Rebar Ahmed of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Iraq’s federal court has given MPs until April 6 to choose a new president. If that deadline is missed, said political scientist Hamza Haddad, “we could reach a point where new elections are decided to break the deadlock”.
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