Iraq provisional government proposed as election crisis continues

Iraqi politicians may form a provisional government as disagreements between political parties on election results enter their fifth week.

Iraq held parliamentary elections on 10 October and the Sairoon Alliance, led by Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, emerged as the largest party winning 73 seats in the 329 seat parliament.

By contrast, the Fatah Alliance - a political coalition linked to pro-Iran militias - performed poorly in the elections, gaining only 15 seats.

Pro-Iran militias have decried the results, slamming them as a "fraud".

Al-Sadr previously had an ambivalent relationship with Iran.

Rahim Al-Aboudi, the leader of the National Wisdom Movement, known as Al-Hikma in Arabic, explained during an interview on local TV that the idea of forming a provisional government is on the table as parties continue to reject the election results.

He stressed the need for dialogues between all political partners in order to reach a solution to the crisis, hinting that the current differences are predominantly related to the objection to the election results.

The government will not complete four years in office and is only a temporary solution to end the ongoing crisis, the leader of the Shia movement added.

Bashir Al-Darraji, a member of Al-Hikma confirmed during a press conference that there are attempts to reach a compromise regarding the distribution of seats in the new government, indicating that the proposal may aim to distribute ministerial portfolios according to their political influence and not the number of parliamentary seats.

He added that reaching this satisfaction may lead to a certain agreement on forming the provisional government, explaining that Al-Hikmah will not be part of the next government.

Sources told The New Arab's Arabic-language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that these proposals have been put to forces objecting to the election results and the idea of a provisional government cannot go ahead without the permission of the winning party.

It would be difficult to convince Al-Sadr's party because the movement had previously confirmed their insistence on forming a national majority government, the source added.

Earlier this month, a failed assassination attempt against Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi took place, believed to have been carried out by pro-Iran militias.