Shafaq News/ The Shiite Coordination Framework on Monday called on the Iraqi security forces to provide personal protection for Independent lawmakers it claimed they are being "intimidated".
The calls come amid heated rows between the Shiite consortium and the trilateral alliance known as "Coalition to Rescue Homeland" over the impending cabinet lineup.
In a statement issued earlier today, the Coordination Framework pilloried the "intimidation exercised by media outlets, with known and unknown affiliations, against the representatives who made a political decision not to attend the session on Saturday," in reference to the parliament session called on Saturday last week to elect a president of the republic.
"Such deeds are a violation of the freedom of expression and a legal offense in accordance with the Iraqi law," the statement said, "pinning the charges of collaboration [with the enemy] to the patriotic free people who do not surrender to coax or intimidation is not civilized and moral."
The Coordination Framework urged the security forces to provide protection for the Independent lawmakers, according to the statement.
On Saturday, Iraqi lawmakers failed again to elect a new president for the country due to a lack of quorum in parliament, keeping the country mired in political paralysis.
Parliament had issued a final list of 40 candidates for the post, a largely ceremonial role that by convention is reserved for a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority.
The contest pits Barham Saleh, the incumbent and member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), against Rebar Ahmed of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PUK's rival and the largest party in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
But a lack of a quorum, set by the Federal Supreme Court at two-thirds of the house's 329 members, held up the vote for the second time since February, deepening war-scarred Iraq's political uncertainty.
Only 202 lawmakers showed up for the latest vote and a new session had to be scheduled for Wednesday. The postponement exacerbates Iraq's political problems because it is the task of the president to formally name a prime minister, who must be backed by an absolute majority in parliament.