Baghdad, Oct 27 (EFE) . – Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani obtained a vote of confidence in the Iraqi National Assembly on Thursday, ending a year of political paralysis after the parliamentary elections of October 2021.
Despite disagreements that led to a brief altercation on the ground, a majority of the 253 lawmakers voted to check Al-Sudani’s cupboard and approve his program.
Al-Sudani, 52, selected the Coordination Framework, an alliance of strong Shiite factions aligned with Iran that together account for 138 of the assembly’s 329 seats but also received the green light from a Sunni bloc led by parliament speaker Mohammed. al-Halbussi and two Kurdish parties.
Candidates sponsored through influential Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr won a majority in the legislature in the October 2021 election, but left parliament in June after the coordination framework hampered their attempts to form a government.
The withdrawal of the Sadrist parliamentarians opened the door for the Cadre to propose Al-Sudani for the post of Prime Minister.
But the popular Al-Sadr, a defender of Iraqi sovereignty who opposes the influence of Iran and the United States, mobilized his thousands of followers to invade parliament and prevent the installation of Al-Sudani.
The violence that accompanied it left 35 dead, but the demonstrators gave way and the seats of the Sadrist deputies were occupied by members of the Coordination Framework.
In his speech to the Assembly on Thursday, the new minister indicated that he will prioritize the fight against corruption.
“The corruption pandemic affecting all facets of life is deadlier than the coronavirus, and has been one of the causes of economic problems, fragility of state authority, increased poverty and unemployment, and deficiencies in public services,” Al-Sudani said.
SY-HU-CGS/DR