Sadrists quit Iraq’s parliament, but al-Sadr isn’t going away

The Sadrist bloc’s resignation from parliament throws up a number of scenarios, including new elections in Iraq. Baghdad, Iraq – After nearly eight months of the Iraqi parliament’s repeated failure to form a government, influential Shia religious leader and the biggest winner of Iraq’s October parliamentary elections – Muqtada al-Sadr decided enough was enough.On Sunday, he ordered the Sadrist Movement bloc, 73 members of parliament, to submit its resignation – which it duly did. If, and when, the resignations are finalised, they will allow the second-place vote winner from October’s elections in each vacated district to take the empty seat. The question now is – why has al-Sadr chosen to go down this route, and what will happen next According to analysts, the resignations will not spell an end to Iraq’s political crisis. Instead, the process of refilling the vacant seats will likely lead to a new wave of intense debate, and potentially street protests.“It will reconfigure the balance of powers, which means that extension of post-election uncertainty period,” said Abbas Kadhim, director of the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council. “Don’t expect a government formed soon.” Source: aljazeera.com