The Iraqi Parliament on Thursday meets to try to elect a new president of the Republic after three failed attempts this year.

Baghdad.- Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbussi announced that the designation of the president, a necessary step to form a new government, is the single point to debate this Thursday, which could not complete since the October 2021 elections due to disputes among the different parties.

In February, the House failed to resolve the crisis and bring the country out of the political paralysis in which it found itself when several Shiite parliamentary groups boycotted the plenary session and forced the absence of a quorum.

All this further sharpened the divergences between the Coordination Framework, a coalition of parties, and the Sadrist Bloc, followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Sadrist lawmakers resigned in June, and in late August, Al-Sadr announced his definitive withdrawal from politics, a decision that led to violent protests by his followers, who occupied the seat of Parliament and the interim Government in the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.

Clashes with security forces and other groups left 35 dead. (PL)