Iraqi Parliament to elect a new president

 Iraqi Parliament to elect a new president

Supporters of the Sadrist movement inside the Iraqi parliament, July 2022. Photo: Reuters

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Parliament will hold a session next Wednesday to elect a new president for the country, according to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA).

A delegation from the State Administration Alliance will visit Erbil on Tuesday to discuss the Kurdish agreement on the presidential candidate, NINA mentioned.

Director of the media office of the State of Law Coalition in Iraq, Hisham Al-Rikabi, confirmed that participants in the State Administration Alliance reached a preliminary agreement to hold a parliamentary session to choose the next president, according Rudaw News.

The State Administration Alliance was formed recently and includes the Coordination Framework, two Kurdish political parties, and other Sunni political parties.

These statements took place while the country is still witnessing a severe ongoing political crisis since the early parliamentary elections took place in October 2021.

The political crisis became more complicated in July 2022 after supporters of the Sadrist movement and the Coordination Framework held a sit-in in the streets of central Baghdad.

The Sadrist movement demanded more than two months ago to dissolve the Parliament and to hold early legislative elections, while the Coordination Framework rejected this approach, and insisted on forming a government with their candidate and to elect a new president, before any new parliamentary elections take place.

In late August, the dispute developed into violent clashes between the two parties in the center of the capital and led to the death of at least 30 people and hundreds injured.