Iraqi populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr accused his Iran-aligned political rivals of abusing the judiciary for their own interests on Wednesday, amid wrangling over the formation of a new government.
Although Mr Al Sadr’s political group emerged in the strongest position after October's elections, gaining 73 seats out of 328 in the country's national assembly, he failed to form a government with his allies, prompting him to order his MPs to resign.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the deeply divided parliament held an extraordinary session and swore in new lawmakers to replace resigned Sadrist lawmakers.
Only 64 new lawmakers took the constitutional oath to the parliament, while nine others did not attend the session, the office of the Parliament Speaker said.
The office did not provide details on how many seats other parties gained after the mass resignation, but was likely to strengthen the position of Mr Al Sadr's Iran-backed rivals.
The resignation of Sadrists has complicated the political stalemate in the country, casting further doubt on the process of forming a government eight months after the national elections.
Mr Al Sadr did not identify any specific political party on Wednesday, but said “Iran’s arms are practising political violations against the Iraqi judiciary for their own interests”.
“They are also trying to exert pressure on other political blocs, whether independents or non-Shiite blocs,” he said.
“Some blocs are afraid of increasing illegal pressure on them, such as violence or issuing judicial decisions or spreading rumours."
He also dismissed as “groundless and a lie” reports that he ordered his bloc to resign from parliament owing to pressure from Iran.
Mr Al Sadr is one of Iraq's most powerful figures, with a national following. He became a prominent leader after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein following the US-led invasion.
Mr Al Sadr wanted to move away from a political system introduced by the US that is based on sectarian apportionment. The system considers the political influence and perceived entitlements of each sect during government formation, rather than policy agendas.
For that goal, he wanted to form a majority government only with winners from Sunni and Kurdish parties — respecting the will of voters, rather than negotiating backroom deals.
That has upset his rivals in the Co-ordination Framework, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias and parties that suffered major losses in the elections.
The group wants him to help to form a wider Shiite bloc to negotiate the formation of a government and the division of posts along sectarian lines.
Since the resignation, the Co-ordination Framework has tried to forge a deal with Mr Al Sadr’s allies, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance, but has failed to make headway.
Members of the KDP and the alliance have come under attack and received threats from armed groups. Analysts have blamed the incidents on Iran-backed militias, something Mr Al Sadr alluded to on Wednesday.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
Company%20profile
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
More from Armen Sarkissian
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
HOW TO WATCH
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