Lawmakers from Iraq’s biggest bloc resign amid impasse

Dozens of lawmakers who make up the biggest bloc in Iraq’s parliament resigned on Sunday amid a prolonged political impasse, plunging the divided nation into political uncertainty.

The 73 lawmakers from powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr’s bloc submitted their resignation based on his request, to protest a persisting political deadlock eight months after general elections were held.

“We have reluctantly accepted the requests of our brothers and sisters, representatives of the Sadr bloc, to resign,” parliament’s speaker Mohammed Al-Halbussi said on Twitter after receiving the resignation letters.

Sadr on Thursday had urged the MPs from his bloc — the biggest in parliament — to ready resignation papers, in a bid, he said, to break the parliamentary logjam and create space for the establishment of a new government.

Al-Sadr, a maverick leader remembered for leading an insurgency against US forces after the 2003 invasion, emerged as the winner in the election held in October.

The election was held several months earlier than expected, in response to mass protests that broke out in late 2019, and saw tens of thousands rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment.

The vote brought victory for Al-Sadr and was a blow for his Iran-backed Shiite rivals, who lost about two-thirds of their seats and have rejected the results.

Al-Sadr has been intent on forming, along with his allies, a majority government that excludes them. But he has not been able to corral enough lawmakers to parliament to get the two-thirds majority needed to elect Iraq’s next president — a necessary step ahead of naming the next prime minister and selecting a Cabinet.

It was not immediately clear how the resignation of the biggest bloc in parliament would play out. According to Iraqi laws, if any seat in parliament becomes vacant, the candidate who obtains the second highest number votes in their electoral district would replace them.

This would benefit Al-Sadr’s opponents from the so-called Coordination Framework, a coalition led by Iran-backed Shiite parties, and their allies — something Al-Sadr would be unlikely to accept.

There are already concerns that the stalemate and tension could boil over and lead to street protests by supporters of Al-Sadr, turning into violence between them and rival armed Shiite militias.