US urges Iraqi government formation as stalemate drags on
The deadlock has left Iraq without a new budget amid the economic uncertainty stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine.
The Biden administration called for Iraqi leaders to swiftly end the political stalemate that has paralyzed the government for the past six months and hindered Iraq’s economic recovery.
“It is time for Iraq’s leaders to form a government," said Jennifer Gavito, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran.
Since elections were held in October, neither of Iraq’s two largest political blocs — the cross-sectarian Coalition for Saving the Homeland and the pro-Iran Coordination Framework — have secured the two-thirds majority that is required to select a new president and ultimately form a government. The stalled process is preventing Iraqi leaders from “providing the essential services to the ordinary Iraqis from which they were elected,” Gavito said in a phone briefing Friday.
Why it matters: Without a new government, the Iraqi parliament can’t pass a 2022 budget.
