Sadrists in one bloc with INL, reform movement

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: An agreement has been made between the Iraqi National List (INL), the Reform Movement, the Sadrists, the Iraqi National Congress (INC), and independents to form a bloc in Najaf’s provincial council if they win in the local elections. “The Sadrist movement will lead the bloc,” the head of the INL in Najaf, Abdelal al-Issawi, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The next stage will engender a collective responsibility on the part of all these blocs, away from the marginalization and the exclusion practised by other blocs throughout the past four years,” Issawi added. On Saturday (Jan. 31), voters headed to polling stations in Baghdad and 13 other Iraqi provinces to elect their representatives in the country’s provincial councils amidst tight security measures. Over 15 million voters participated in the election, according to the IHEC. Security personnel, prisoners sentenced to less than five years and hospital-bound cast early ballots in the special voting, held on Wednesday (Jan. 28). Participation in the local council elections all over Iraq reached 51 percent, the IHEC said. SS (P)/SR 1