Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi rejects calls for dissolving parliament

BAGHDAD

Iraq's Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi on Thursday rejected the call of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.

Falih al-Fayyad, in a statement to Al-Jazeera, said "the proposal of Al-Sadr to resolve the crisis can be discussed to reach a consensus, however, dissolving the parliament is a big step that cannot be accepted unless it is agreed upon by all political parties."

"Al-Sadr is still present in the political scene despite the resignation of his deputies," he added.

On Wednesday, Al-Sadr called for the dissolution of parliament and the holding of early elections as part of a nine-month-old political crisis that has prevented the formation of a government since the Oct.10, 2021 elections.

Last June, 73 representatives of Al-Sadr's movement, out of 329, submitted their resignations, after they were unable to form a "national majority" government, as the "coordinating framework" stuck to a "national consensus" government as usual, and now has a parliamentary majority that enables it to form a government.

Last Saturday, Al-Sadr's supporters stormed for the second time in less than a week the parliament headquarters in the capital, Baghdad, to reject the nomination of the "coordinating framework" Mohammad Shia al-Sudani for the post of prime minister.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi in Ankara contributed to this report