Iraq’s Maliki to declare own majority alliance today
Iraq’s Vice President Nouri al-Maliki (L) and new Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi shake hands during the session to approve the new government in Baghdad, September 8, 2014.Iraq’s parliament approved a new government headed by Haider al-Abadi as prime minister on Monday night, in a bid to rescue Iraq from collapse, with sectarianism and Arab-Kurdish tensions on the rise. REUTERS/Hadi Mizban/Pool (IRAQ – Tags: POLITICS) – RTR45G35
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki will declare today, Monday, his own alliance for a parliament majority that will form the next Iraqi parliament, a member of his political group has said.
Iraq News Network website quoted Abdul-Hadi al-Saadawi, a member of Maliki’s State of the Law alliance, saying that “it is possible that the largest bloc will be declared today after final touches are given to the next government’s platform”.
According to Saadawi, “an agreement has been signed for an alliance between the State of the Law and Fatah alliance, along with other political groups.
Fatah alliance is a group hailing from former leaders of the Popular Mobilization Forces which fought Islamic State militants alongside the Iraqi government troops over the past four years. It ranked second in the parliament elections held last May.
Yesterday, the Iraqi Federal Court approved results of the manual recount of the parliament polls, which were ordered following challenges to the integrity of electronically-managed votes. Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi immediately urged the country’s president to invite the parliament to convene after the ruling.
In a meeting in Baghdad hotel, on Sunday, an alliance was declared by al-Nasr list, led by Abadi, al-Hekma, led by Shia cleric Ammar al-Hakim, Saeroon, led by prominent Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and Wataniya, led by Iraqi Vice President Iyad Allawi.
While Maliki, a former premier, has repeatedly called for a government formed by the political alliance owning parliament majority alone, Abadi and his new partners urged to form a large bloc that forms a government that disregards sectarian and partisan considerations.