Disputes between the Sadrist Bloc and pro-Iran Shi'ite formations dominate the first session of the Iraqi parliament after elections

Following legislative elections last October, the Iraqi parliament has held its first session to lay the groundwork for a new national government, which could be headed by election-winning Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr. Sadr, unlike other Shia leaders in the country, has expressed his rejection of the Iranian presence in Iraq; he has also presented himself as a staunch opponent of the US. Despite the victory at the polls, the Sadrist Bloc will have to contend with other rival Shia formations that continue to reject the election results and demand representation in the future executive.

During this first plenary session, representatives of the Coordination Framework, a coalition that brings together several Shiite parties, stated that they currently constitute the largest parliamentary bloc, with 88 seats compared to Sadr's 73. In this regard, the coalition's most powerful parties, Fatah, linked to pro-Iranian militias, and State of Law, led by former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, submitted a document to the interim president requesting that their coalition be determined as the largest bloc in parliament, despite the fact that between them they have only 50 seats. This was rejected by Sadrist representatives, who defended their formation as the main parliamentary bloc.

As a result, altercations began between the different political formations. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, the most senior member of the House who was in charge of presiding over the session, was hospitalised after an assault, according to state television, al-Iraqiya. Some parliamentary sources told EFE that Al-Mashhadani suffered "a blow to the head" from a Sadrist Bloc MP, while others claimed that the MP only "fainted". However, INA, the official news agency, announced that he was in a "stable" condition.

After the altercation, the session was suspended for a while and then resumed by Khaled al-Daraji, the second oldest MP in the House. In this second part of the plenary session, Mohammed Al Halbousi, former Sunni governor of Anbar province and leader of the Progress Party, was re-elected for a second term as speaker of the House with 200 votes out of 329. Al Halbousi's party was the most voted party among Iraq's Sunni Muslims in the October elections and won 37 seats.

This is not the first time the country has witnessed political strife between Shiite formations. Since the election results became known, members and supporters of the Fatah coalition have demonstrated on numerous occasions near Baghdad's Green Zone to denounce alleged electoral fraud. The pro-Iranian alliance won only 17 seats in the elections, down from 48 in the previous elections. On the other hand, the State of Law bloc, another pro-Iranian coalition, won 33 seats. 

Parliament now has 30 days to elect the country's new president, who will then ask the broader bloc to form a government. Political pundits say Iraq could have a new executive in place by March. Sadr hopes to lead such a future administration, and has on occasion suggested that he might share power with Sunni formations such as the Progress Party, Al Azm or the Kurdish KDP.