Shafaq News/ The leaders of the Coordination Framework convened on Sunday to discuss the reverberations of the mass resignation of the Sadrist movement's lawmakers from the Iraqi parliament.

All the members of the Sadrist bloc in Iraq's parliament resigned earlier today after their leader, powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, asked them to step down amid a prolonged stalemate over forming a government.

In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, the leading figure in the Coordination Framework, Ali al-Fatlawi said that the leaders of the mainly Iran-backed Shiite forces consortium convened in the bureau of Hadi al-Ameri, the head of al-Fatah bloc.

"They usually convene on a nearly daily basis. However, today's event prompts major tactical changes," he said.

Member of the State of Law bloc, Thaer Makhif, ascribed al-Sadr's decision as a "political maneuver", especially after the visit of al-Siyada bloc leaders, Khamis al-Khanjar and Parliament Speaker Mohammad al-Halboosi, to Erbil.

"A political maneuver is the only rational explanation of this decision. Al-Sadr sought to inject a fresh momentum into an otherwise static situation," he said.

Al-Sadr's party was the biggest winner in an October general election, increasing the number of seats it holds in parliament to 73. But political disagreement among parties have hindered the parliament from electing a president and forming a government.

Al-Sadr, a populist who has positioned himself as a staunch opponent of both Iran and the US, said in a handwritten statement that his request to lawmakers to resign was “a sacrifice from me for the country and the people to rid them of the unknown destiny”.

Soon after, the parliamentary speaker accepted the resignations.

In a video shown on Iraq's state news agency INA, Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was seen signing the lawmakers' resignations.