BAGHDAD —
Iraq's new parliament held a heated
inaugural session Sunday, three months after legislative elections won by
Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, the likely kingmaker of the next government.
اضافة اعلان
Sadr, 47, who once led an anti-US militia and who has a
large and dedicated following, is expected to have the key say in who will
serve as the next prime minister, a post now held by Mustafa Al-Kadhemi.
Sunday saw the swearing in of the 329 members of the
unicameral parliament, who will now have to elect a speaker, a post by convention
reserved for Sunnis.
The post-election period has been marred by tensions and
allegations of fraud, and a dispute broke out Sunday between deputies of the
Shiite Coordination Framework coalition and their Sadrists rivals, several
parliamentary sources said.
MP Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, who chaired the session, was
"hospitalized", public television said. Official news agency INA said
he was in a "stable" condition.
A parliamentary source requesting anonymity said Mashhadani
"fainted".
Videos filmed by MPs showed lawmakers fighting among
themselves.
The session was suspended for more than an hour before
resuming.
Sadr emerged as the big winner of the October 10 polls,
which were held several months early as a concession to a pro-democracy protest
movement.
His movement, which ran after he reversed an initial
election boycott call, won 73 of the 329 seats.
Instability and violence
Kurdish MP Muthana Amin said Sunday's session "began
normally" but that the Coordination Framework claimed it was the largest
alliance in parliament, with 88 seats.
Mashhadani "asked for the information to be verified,
after which he was abused," Amin told AFP, without saying whether his
hospitalization was linked to the incident.
Within 30 days of its inaugural session, the parliament must
elect the president of the republic.
The new president must then appoint a premier, who is chosen
by the largest coalition and has 30 days to form a government.
Some experts and politicians expect a new governing team in
place by March for the oil-rich but war-battered country of 40 million.
Sadr has repeatedly said he wants to break with the Iraqi
political tradition of a "consensus" government to instead build a
majority government.
That would mean building a ruling majority that would
appoint a premier and cabinet from within its ranks.
Sadr's pro-Iranian rivals in the Conquest Alliance, the
political wing of the pro-Iran ex-paramilitary coalition
Hashed Al-Shaabi, won
only 17 seats in the election, compared to 48 in the previous parliament.
The Hashed's backers charged that the vote was marred by
"fraud", but the courts rejected their appeal to have the election
annulled.
Sadr has hinted that he prefers an alliance with Sunni
groups Azm and Taqadom, and a Kurdish party, the KDP.
The post of premier historically goes to a Shiite, under
Iraq's informal system of religious and ethnic quotas in place since the 2003
US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
The post-election period has been marked by instability and
violence.
Hashed supporters demonstrated in anger outside Baghdad's
ultra-secure Green Zone, which houses parliament, other government buildings
and the US embassy.
Kadhemi escaped unharmed when an unclaimed attack using
armed drones targeted his residence on November 7.
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