Iraqi Media: US Envoy Meddling in Gov't Formation Process

TEHRAN (Defapress)-The Arabic-language al-Ghad Press news website quoted informed sources as saying on Sunday that the Shiite political groups are dissatisfied with McGurk's meddling in the process to form a new government.

According to the report, he has underlined during his recent meetings with the Iraqi political leaders that US President Donald Trump is willing to see a government in Iraq which includes all political spectra.

The informed sources also cautioned that McGurk is making attempts to foment a Shiite-Shiite rifts and clashes on Iraq's political scene and has even said that Washington's only option for the prime minister post is Haider al-Abadi.

An agreement between Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr and the outgoing Prime Minister Haider Abadi in June took the parties a step closer to forming the biggest parliamentary ruling bloc.

Sadr’s Sairoon electoral list emerged as the biggest winner in the May parliamentary elections with 54 seats. Since preliminary results were announced, Al-Sadr has lead talks with the key winners to form the largest bloc in Parliament, which can then form a government.

Al-Sadr and Abadi, whose Al-Nassir list came third in the election with 44 seats, announced their alliance to “accelerate the formation of the upcoming government.”

Two weeks earlier, Al-Sadr also joined Al-Fattah list, which came second in the elections with 47 seats.

He has also announced coalition agreements with Al-Hikma list and Al-Wattiniya list of Sunni-backed Vice President Ayad Allawi.

All the deals are aimed at forming a ruling bloc of at least 200 seats in Parliament, 34 more than the required number for Sadr to block his rivals from forming a similar coalition.

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