Why Is Iraq Unable To Elect A President?
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Khalid Al Mansoor
- . March 26, 2022
- . Update: March 28, 2022 7:28 pm
Iraq–The Pro-Iranian parties have ensured Iraq does not get a stable government. As the parties went all out to reject and boycott the elections, Iraq has failed to appoint a President. Since October 10, the situation has been bleak for the Iraqi side. Political groups continue to create faction in Iraq, forcing a delay in the formation of a new government after October 10 national elections. The deadlock over electing leadership has continued for the last six months. A divided session of MPs has led to a despicable result this time. A majority vote is needed to decide the future President. But this has not happened.
The parliament session convened recently, did not have more than 202MPs while a majority of a minimum 220 is required for a vote to pass. Despite emerging as the clear winner in the October 10 polls with 73 seats in the 329-member legislature, Shiite populist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s efforts to form a government have been blocked an alliance of his Iran-backed Shiite rivals. Further, he has been under pressure to take on people from his preferred circuit to man the various leadership positions.
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Other government posts are divided among the country’s political parties based on their religious and ethnic background. Currently, the rivals that have formed a Co-ordination Framework that has been putting pressure to home its own along with Sadr. An attempt to elect a president last month failed because of a boycott of the process by major political parties.
Under an unofficial agreement, Iraq’s presidency – a largely ceremonial role – is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister’s post is reserved for a Shiite and that of parliament speaker for a Sunni.
