The Sadrist secures the quorum; the Framework waits cautiously 

Shafaq News/ On Monday, a source in the Sadrist Movement said that a quorum is reached for the next parliamentary session.

In a condition of anonymity, the source told Shafaq News Agency that the Sadrist bloc is committed to its tripartite Alliance with the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Al-Siyada Alliance to form a national majority government; that "serves the people by adopting a reform approach and program."

"The Sadrists obtained the quorum needed for Saturday's session. After that, we will elect the candidate of the tripartite Alliance for the Iraqi presidency. Hours later, the candidate of the Sadrist bloc would be chosen to form the next government."

Meanwhile, the Shiite Coordination Framework forces are discussing today evening at Ammar Al-Hakim headquarters the political developments, including Al-Sadr's last message.

Some forces of the Shiite Framework are awaiting the outcomes of the Al-Sadr's message to the independent deputies, urging them to attend the parliament session to elect the President of the republic.

If the leader of the Sadrist succeeded in securing the necessary votes to elect the President, some of the Framework forces would enjoy him.

Earlier, al-Sadr invited the independent lawmakers to participate in the majoritarian cabinet he has been lobbying for in a long letter he shared on Monday.

The maverick leader said that the failure of the political parties in the post-2003 era shrunk the size of the status quo political blocs and spawned many independent lawmakers, particularly in the Shiite and southern Iraqi communities.

"The succession of consensus governments that took over the country did not benefit Iraq and the Iraqis. It is safe to say that it destroyed the country year after year," he said, "the reason behind their failure was consensus, cake-sharing, and whatsoever."

"During the last political process, we tried to refrain from sharing the cake with them, but it did not work. Today, we believe that we need to escape the bottleneck of consensus to the space of majority, the bottleneck of sectarianism to the space of nationalism," he continued, "by which I mean forming a national majority government."

"It is an experience we should engage in testing it. Hopefully, it is the beginning of the rise from our beloved country's bitter reality and a challenge to the external pressure exerted against our country."

Al-Sadr urged the independent lawmakers to "take a stance of glory, honor, and dignity to save the country and rid it from the remnants of corruption, terrorism, invasion, normalization, and degradation by endorsing the parliamentary session called to elect a new president of the republic and abstain from blocking it by the blocking one-third engendered by coaxing and intimidation."

"We need a courageous stand from you. If you do not trust the Sadrist bloc or me, we will grant you an area to run the country if you manage to organize your ranks and averted inducements and threats."

The Sadrist leader said that his sole purpose from seeking a majoritarian government is achieving reform, deeming it "a better political attempt from violence and extremist protests that damaged the country."

The populist Shiite cleric warned, "some parties are attempting to drag the country into the furnace of war, conflicts, and destruction of the honest democratic process."

"Those who hear what we said and do not support us should not censure us later or unleash accusations against us later," he concluded.

It is worth noting that according to the results of the elections, the Sadrist Movement won 73 seats, followed by the "Progress (Takadum)" Coalition led by Muhammad al-Halboosi with 37 seats. Next, the State of Law Coalition led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki with 33 seats, then the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Masoud Barzani with 31 seats.

Compared with 2018 results, The Al-Fateh Alliance lost 31 seats, taking only 17 seats in the last elections.

During this period, periodic meetings and encounters are held among all political parties to follow up many entitlements, including forming the new Iraqi government and choosing the prime minister and the President of Iraq.

Despite all discussions with the Shiite Coordination Framework, Al-Sadr insists on forming a national majority government with the participation of the winning blocs instead of a consensus government.