Iraqi parliament mired in chaos

Power struggles between Iraq’s nationalistic Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Iran-backed Coordination Framework mean the nation has gone nearly ten months without a government
             

Chamber of Deputies: 239 seats 
Sadrist Bloc: 73 Shi’a Muslim 
Progress Party: 37 Sunni 
Kurdish Democratic Party: 31 
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan: 17 
Azem Alliance: 14 Sunni
Small parties: 30
State of Law Coalition: 33 Shi’a
Fatah Alliance: 17 Shi’a
Huqooq Movement: 20 Shi’a
Other parties 57

Homeland Rescue 202 seats
         
                      
Oct 10, 2021 election: Muqtada al-Sadr (above) wins 73 seats – largest bloc in parliament

Oct 16: Coordination Framework – Shi’a alliance of State of Law, Fatah, Huqooq and others, led by former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki (right) – rejects election results

Jan 2021: Sadrist bloc forms Homeland Rescue (HR). Alliance includes Sadrists, Kurds and Sunnis. 30 lawmakers from small parties join, boosting strength to 202 seats – but fail to reach two-thirds majority of 220 needed to select president

Jan 9: Sunni Muhammad Al-Halbousi is elected for second term as speaker. Iran-backed Fatah Alliance disputes election

Jan 25: Supreme Court affirms Halbousi’s win

Feb-Jun: Negotiations between HR alliance and Coordination Framework flounder, with Framework MPs demanding inclusion, with veto powers, in new cabinet

Jun 9: Sadr instructs his lawmakers to quit parliament

Jun 12: Sadrist MPs resign en bloc. Framework replaces half of Sadr’s MPs. Although move is legal, it is seen as provocative

Jul 25: Framework nominates Mohammed al-Sudani, former minister in Maliki government, as its candidate for prime minister. He is seen by Sadr loyalists as pro-Iran stooge

Jul 27-Aug 1: Sadr supporters occupy parliament, raising fears that Shia-on-Shia fighting
could erupt


Sources: Al Jazeera, Al-Monitor, Middle East Eye, Rudaw 
Pictures: Getty Images 
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