2 yıl önce

Iraq presidential vote postponed indefinitely as political deadlock deepens

Only 58 members out of 329 lawmakers were present in the parliament, which was less than the necessary two-thirds quorum needed to choose a new president for the mostly ceremonial post.

Reuters

The assembly vote had been set for noon to elect the head of state.

Iraq's parliament has indefinitely postponed a scheduled vote for the republic's president after most major political blocs boycotted the session.

On Monday afternoon, with only a few dozen MPs in the chamber, an official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that "there will be no vote to elect the president".

The assembly vote had been set for noon to elect the head of state — a post with a four-year mandate held by convention by a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority, and currently occupied by Barham Salih.

But a series of boycott calls had made it highly unlikely the 329-seat parliament in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone would be able to clinch the necessary two-thirds quorum.

The sweeping no-show deepens a political crisis in the war-scarred country which, almost four months after a general election, still hasn't chosen a new prime minister.

Key blocs boycott the vote

The turmoil comes after October polls were marred by record-low turnout, post-election threats and violence, and a delay of several months until final results were confirmed.

Intense negotiations among political groups since then have failed to form a majority parliamentary coalition to name a new prime minister to succeed Mustafa al Kadhimi.

The largest parliamentary bloc to emerge from the vote, led by Muqtada al Sadr and holding 73 seats, became the first to announce a boycott on Saturday.

It was followed on Sunday by the 51-member Sovereignty Coalition and the 31-seat Kurdish party, the KDP, which announced it would stay away to "continue consultations and dialogue between political blocs".

Another key bloc, the Cooperation Framework grouping several Shia parties, also said the session should not take place, citing the recent political turmoil.

The process toward a presidential vote had been further thrown into disarray when Iraq's Supreme Court on Sunday suspended the candidacy of Salih's key challenger, Hoshyar Zebari, with corruption charges.

Political troubles exacerbate

Monday's postponement exacerbates Iraq's political troubles because it is the task of the president, within 15 days of being elected, to formally name a prime minister from the largest bloc in parliament.

Sadr's bloc claims it controls enough seats for a "national majority government". However, the Coordination Framework has appealed to the Supreme Court to have their grouping recognised as the biggest.

The country's apex court has rejected this demand, saying it could not decide now, as the size of parliamentary blocs could shift.