Iraqi parliament gives vote of confidence to 64 new MPs

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Parliament on Thursday gave its vote of confidence to 64 new members of parliament to fill the majority of the 73 seats left vacant by the Sadrist Movement.

The 64 new parliament members attained the seats since they had the most votes from the October parliamentary elections following the mass resignation of all 73 Sadrist MPs two weeks ago. They took their oath in Thursday's session, which was attended by 202 MPs.

Following the session, the participating political blocs issued a statement in which they called on all political blocs to commit to forming a national service government that responds to the people's demands. They stressed that the government should be formed under the principles of consensus, partnership, and commitment to upholding the constitution. 

The statement emphasized solving the disputes between Erbil and Baghdad and legislating the oil and gas law per the relevant articles of the Iraqi constitution. 

The overwhelming majority of the 64 new parliament members are from the Iran-backed Shiite Coordination Framework coalition, increasing the chances this coalition can form another consensus government in Iraq that upholds Iran's interests in the country. 

Past governments of this kind have given many promises to the Kurds, including resolving problems between Erbil and Baghdad and implementing the Iraqi constitution. However, they invariably fail to live up to such promises once the government is formed.