Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi meets with the US president during a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
BAGHDAD – Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Tuesday invited rival political parties to a Wednesday meeting to seek a solution to the political deadlock through a national dialogue.
"I invite the leaders of the national political forces to a national meeting at the government palace on Wednesday to launch a national dialogue for a solution to the current political crisis," al-Kadhimi said in a statement.
Iraq is "experiencing political challenges and a political deadlock, along with their repercussions on the government's performance," al-Kadhimi told the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday
Iraq is "experiencing political challenges and a political deadlock, along with their repercussions on the government's performance," al-Kadhimi told the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to a separate statement by his media office.
ALSO READ: Sadr's followers set up for long sit-in at Iraq parliament
Earlier in the day, al-Kadhimi accepted the resignation of Finance Minister Ali Allawi who cited "the rampant conflict between the political parties that affected the implementation of reforms" as the reason for resigning, said the government spokesman Hassan Nadhim.
Al-Kadhimi's invitation came as the political disputes escalated in the past weeks between the prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his rivals the Coordination Framework (CF), an umbrella group of Shiite parliamentary parties.
On Aug 3, al-Sadr urged his followers to continue their sit-in protest until their demands to dissolve the parliament and hold early elections are met.
The CF became the largest alliance in the Iraqi parliament after al-Sadr ordered his followers in the Sadrist Movement, the biggest winner of the elections held on Oct 10, 2021 with 73 seats, to withdraw from the parliament.
ALSO READ: Iran welcomes Iraq's role in promoting regional dialogue
During the past months, the continued disputes among the Shiite parties have hampered the formation of a new Iraqi government, making it unable to elect a new president by a two-thirds majority of the 329-seat parliament under the constitution.
If elected, the president will appoint the prime minister nominated by the largest alliance in the parliament, now the CF, to form a new government that would rule the country for the next four years.