Sixteen political groupings in Iraq, including those of nationalist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, late Sunday reached an accord to create the biggest bloc in parliament, capable of forming a new Government. A close aide to Abadi told AFP that the bloc consists of 177 deputies, which is more than half of the 329 lawmakers elected in legislative polls.
As the largest bloc it would be tasked by the president to form the Government.
Iraq’s political system is designed to ensure that no one person or party can dominate in order to avoid any return of a dictatorship following the ouster of strongman Saddam Hussein.
The accord came just several hours before the first session of the Iraqi parliament which was elected in May.