Iraqi parliament swears in new members

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament swore in new lawmakers on Thursday to replace 73 members of a bloc led by Moqtada al-Sadr after the powerful Shiite Muslim cleric asked them to step down amid a prolonged stalemate over forming a government.

The influx of new lawmakers is likely to strengthen the position of Sadr's Iran-backed rivals in parliament. 

It was not clear whether the extraordinary session requested by 50 members of parliament during a recess would go through. A simple majority of the legislature’s 329 members is required for an electoral session, and al-Sadr urged parliamentary blocs not to succumb to “pressures” from Iranian-backed factions.

Al-Sadr, a maverick politician with a large following, emerged as the biggest winner in general elections held in October, but has been unable to cobble together a coalition that can form a majority government.

He has been locked in a power struggle with internal Shiite rivals backed by Iran, preventing the formation of a new government.

Two weeks ago, he ordered lawmakers from his parliamentary bloc to resign in a bid to break the eight-month impasse. The unprecedented move threw Iraq’s political landscape into disarray.

According to Iraqi laws, if any seat in parliament becomes vacant, the candidate who obtains the second highest number of votes in their electoral district would replace them. In this case, it would make al-Sadr’s opponents from the so-called Coordination Framework, a coalition led by Iran-backed Shiite parties and their allies, the majority. This would allow pro-Iranian factions to determine the makeup of the next government.

Even though Parliament is in recess, lawmakers mostly from the Framework alliance called for an extraordinary session Thursday to vote on the new lawmakers.

On Wednesday, al-Sadr accused Iranian proxies of political meddling. He also accused them of applying pressure against newly elected political independents and allies of his Sadrist bloc.

He called on parliamentarians not to succumb to pressure.

“I call on blocs to stand bravely for the sake of reform and saving the nation, and not to give in to sectarian pressures, as they are bubbles which will disappear,” he said in a statement.