Yesterday, Iraqi parliament officials resumed their work, which was suspended after the parliament was stormed by supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in late July, an official source said.
Work resumed after a call from Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Khalbusi to discuss an agenda for a new session of national dialogue to end the 11-month political paralysis that led to last week’s clashes in downtown Baghdad. .
A parliamentary spokesman said: “We were briefed on Saturday about the return to work in the Houses of Parliament, starting Sunday, and in full, for all workers,” explaining that “work in Parliament has been suspended since demonstrators stormed the Parliament building.” . and on the days of the sit-ins in the building,” stressing that all parliamentary staff have returned to work.
On July 27, supporters of the Sadrist movement stormed the fortified Green Zone in the center of Baghdad, which includes parliament, government offices and foreign embassies, and then took control of the building in protest against the nomination of the Shiite coordinating Sadrist movement, Muhammad al-Sudani as his candidate for post of prime minister.
They then organized sit-ins in and around Parliament for several weeks starting in late July, demanding the dissolution of Parliament (House of Representatives) and early elections.
But they left last Tuesday on the orders of Muqtada al-Sadr after 24 hours of armed clashes against government forces and supporters of the Coordination Framework, which included pro-Iranian groups, in which more than thirty supporters of the Sadrist movement were killed.
The confrontation has shaped the peak of disagreement over the political crisis that Iraq is going through since the parliamentary elections in October 2021.
Al-Khalbusi yesterday, in a statement on Twitter, proposed a second session of the National Dialogue, following the previous session on August 17, which was boycotted by Al-Sadr representatives.
The dialogue sessions are part of an attempt to end the political stalemate in Iraq following the October 2021 elections and strip the country of its government, prime minister and president.
Al-Khalbusi did not specify a date for the upcoming talks, but touched on important matters, including “setting a date for early parliamentary elections” and electing the country’s president and government.
It is not yet known which political parties will take part in the next meeting.
