Iraq’s new parliament has postponed its second session amid a failure by lawmakers to agree on forming a new government following the March election in which no one party won a majority, a lawmaker said Monday.
The session had been scheduled for Tuesday.
Christian member of parliament Yonadam Kanna told the German Press Agency dpa the postponement was due to the “lack of agreement between the political blocs and not forming alliances to enable forming a new government.” In the meantime, leaders of the different blocs would continue their meetings to reach some resolutions before the next session, Mr. Kanna added.
The new parliament held its first session in June, three months after the March 7 parliamentary elections, but the session adjourned after some 20 minutes.
Former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya List won 91 seats in the 325—member parliament, compared to 89 for the State of Law coalition of incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al—Maliki. The National Iraqi Alliance came third with 70 seats.
Political tension followed the results. Both Mr. Allawi and Mr. al—Maliki are competing to head the government. Mr. Allawi insists he has the right to form a new government because his bloc won the highest number of seats.
Meanwhile, Mr. al—Maliki says he has the largest bloc in the parliament with 159 deputies, after forming the National Alliance with the Ammar al—Hakim’s Iraqi National List. That total, however, is still four seats short of a majority.
