SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi on Sunday called for an end to a political stalemate in the country, after the legislature failed to elect a new president on Saturday.
Halbousi visited Kadhimi to discuss the latest developments in the country, according to a statement released by the prime minister’s office.
They also discussed steps to further serve people and meet their demands, the statement read.
Both sides also stressed the importance of working together to pass the current obstacles and to put an end to the “political stalemate” in the country.
On Saturday, the Iraqi Council of Representatives failed to elect a new president due to a lack of quorum.
Only 202 members of parliament out of 329 were present, which is less than the necessary two-thirds quorum needed to choose a new president for the mostly ceremonial post, while 126 lawmakers boycotted the session.
The vote on the president was postponed to Wednesday.
The delay prolongs a bitter deadlock in Iraqi politics months after an October general election from which Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr emerged the biggest winner, with his Shia, pro-Iran rivals receiving a hammering at the polls.
Under a power-sharing system designed to avoid sectarian conflict, Iraq’s president is a Kurd, its prime minister a Shia and its parliament speaker a Sunni.
Sadr has vowed to push through what he calls a “national majority” government, a euphemism for one that excludes pro-Iran groups.
Iraqi President Barham Salih, who is running for a second term in office, urged the political parties to participate in “serious and effective dialogue to get out of the current crisis without delay”.
“The continuation of the political stalemate amid the serious challenges facing the country is unacceptable,” he said.
