BAGHDAD (Anadolu/MEMO) – Iraqi President Barham Salih on Saturday called on the country’s political forces to reach consensus to end the crisis of government formation.
In a statement, Salih said Iraq is going through a “sensitive situation amid political impasse” casting the country into a “dangerous maze.”
Iraq has been unable to form a government since the Oct. 10 parliamentary elections last year amid differences between political parties. The Iraqi Parliament has also failed to elect a new president.
“The continuation of the political crisis may drag the country into a dangerous maze in which everyone will lose, and therefore all political forces today have a historic, national and moral responsibility to maintain national unity,” he added.
The Iraqi leader expressed optimism about ending the crisis if the sides engage in a “serious and effective dialogue” to form “a capable and effective national government that protects the interests of the country.”
After parliament failed several times this year to elect a new president, Iraq has entered a constitutional vacuum.
The events led to the end of the constitutional deadline set by the Federal Supreme Court on 6 April.
This required the court to resort to legal jurisprudence and issue a decision to continue the term of Salih until a new president is elected.
Since its first session on 9 February, parliament has been unable to elect a president from 40 candidates led by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) candidate, the current president, Barham Salih, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s candidate, Rebar Ahmed.
Iraqi Parliament failed twice during the past week to hold a session to elect the president of the republic because the required quorum of two-thirds of the 329 MPs had not been met.
The tripartite Alliance to Save the Homeland, consisting of the Sadrist movement, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Sunni Alliance, which is calling for the formation of a national majority government, failed to mobilize the largest number of votes to meet the required threshold.