Sadr-Abadi alliance announces formation of biggest parliamentary bloc
PM Haider al-Abadi meets with Shia political and religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A new Iraqi alliance grouping Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that it managed to form the biggest parliamentary bloc, a move which will give it the power to make up the new government.
“The Alliance of Reform and Building, which consists of Sadr’s Sairoon, Abadi’s Victory and 16 other political groups, has been registered as the biggest bloc in the parliament,” Baghdad Today quoted Jassem al-Helfy, a senior leader in the Sairoon alliance, as saying on Monday.
According to al-Helfy, “the parliament will officially name the biggest parliamentary bloc later today after all alliances reveal names of their affiliated MPs”.
The Sadr-Abadi alliance also includes the blocs of Vice President Ayad Allawi and Shiite Muslim cleric Ammar al-Hakim, as well as several Sunni Muslim lawmakers and ones representing Turkmen, Yazidi, Mandaean and Christian minorities.
It does not include Kurdish groups.
The Iraqi parliament held its first session early Monday in its new formation after the final results were endorsed by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court two weeks ago.
In the May 12 parliamentary polls, the Sairoon coalition won 54 parliamentary seats, followed by an al-Hashd al-Shaabi-linked coalition (47 seats) and the Victory bloc (42 seats).
The vote results, however, have aroused widespread fraud allegations.