By Ibrahim Saleh
BAGHDAD (AA) – Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc said Saturday it will boycott a parliamentary session to elect a new president of Iraq.
"We decided to freeze negotiations with political blocs regarding the formation of the next government until further notice,” Hassan al-Adhari, the head of the Sadrist bloc, said in a press conference in Baghdad.
The Iraqi Parliament is scheduled to hold a special session on Monday to elect a new president from among 25 candidates.
Incumbent President Barham Salih, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Hoshyar Zebari, are the frontrunners for the post.
“The Sadr’s bloc members will not attend the parliamentary session to elect the president of the republic except for first deputy speaker of parliament, Hakim al-Zamili," al-Adhari said, without giving further details.
The decision to boycott Monday’s session comes amid deep differences between Shia blocs over the formation of the new Iraqi government.
Al-Sadr’s Sairoon alliance emerged the biggest winner in the Oct. 10 elections, with 73 seats in the 329-member parliament, followed by Mohammed al-Halbousi’s Taqaddum (progress) bloc with 37 seats.
* Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar