Muqtada al-Sadr threatens to withdraw from parliament
After failing to form a national majority government, Iraqi populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr asked his party members in parliament to prepare to resign.
Leader of the Sadrist Movement Muqtada al-Sadr insisted in a public speech on forming a national majority government or otherwise his bloc will withdraw from parliament.
“We have two options: either the opposition or [withdraw],” Sadr said.
Sadr won the largest bloc in the October 2021 elections, gaining 74 seats. He formed an alliance with the Sunni Sovereignty Coalition led by parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi and the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani.
He has been calling for a national majority government, rejecting the Coordination Framework that includes Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law and the Iran-backed Fatah bloc.
