Iraq’s vice-president called on parliament to convene on Tuesday, taking the first step toward forming a new Government to present a united front against a rapidly advancing Sunni insurgency, even as a suicide bomber killed at least 19 people at a market in the predominantly Shiite Muslim Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah on Thursday, officials said.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s political bloc won the most seats in April 30 elections — with 92 seats out of the 328 — but he needs support from other blocs to govern with a majority. His efforts to form a coalition have been complicated by the current crisis as critics blame his failure to promote national reconciliation for the Sunni anger fueling the insurgent gains and want him to step down.
Khudeir al-Khuzaie statement ordered the new parliament to hold its first session on Tuesday and to be chaired by the eldest member.
Compounding the pressure, powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr made a televised statement in which he called for the formation of a national unity Government that would bring “new faces” representing all groups and steering the country away from the sectarian distribution of power. Al-Sadr also vowed late Wednesday to “shake the ground” under the feet of the Al-Qaida breakaway group that has threatened to advance toward Baghdad and holy Shiite cities in the south.
On Thursday, authorities found eight men believed to be those who had been shot dead, with bullet wounds in the head and chests in Mahmoudiya, near Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.