BAGHDAD — The Iraqi heavyweight political movement, Al-Sadrist bloc, has suspended negotiations with other political coalitions for forming a new government and called for boycotting Monday's parliamentary session to elect a new president.

The bloc head, Hassan Al-Adhari, speaking at a news conference in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, declared that upon instructions by the movement supreme leader Muqtada Al-Sadr a decision had been taken to suspend, indefinitely, the negotiations with the other parties for forming a new government.

Al-Ahhari urged all members of Al-Sadrist group to abstain from attending Monday's session. He, however, neither explained why the bloc had taken such a drastic political move, nor mentioned how the step would impact on the tripartite alliance that links up the group with the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and Al-Seyada alliance, whose coordination had resulted in the recent election of Mohammad Al-Halbousi as head of the parliament.

These allies had reportedly reached a consensus on naming Hoshyar Zebari, a veteran leading member of the Kurdish party, as president in the Monday session. There are some 73 members of Al-Sadrist group in the 329-seat parliament. The required quorum for holding the voting for president is around 200. (

The Iraqi parliament’s newly-elected presidency had decided to hold a meeting on Feb, 7 to elect a new president for the country, according to a statement from the legislature.

Iraq held snap parliamentary elections on Oct. 10. The new members of the parliament were sworn in and they elected a new leadership for the legislature on Jan. 9. The next phase is to elect a new president for the country by Feb. 8, as per law.

Parliament’s new presidency held a meeting on Thursday and decided to announce the names of those presidential candidates who meet their requirements on Monday, according to the statement by the legislature.

The position has been held by Kurds for nearly two decades. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have fielded different candidates for the position, harming their relations.

The KDP has appointed Hoshiyar Zebari, who has served as Iraq’s foreign minister and finance minister in the past, and the PUK has fielded Barham Salih, the incumbent president of the country.

Both parties are holding meetings with Iraqi political parties to gain support for their candidates, with officials from both sides already claiming victory. The new president will task the candidate of the largest parliamentary alliance to form a new Cabinet.

PUK Co-chair Bafel Talabani met with Hadi Al-Amiri, leader of Fatih Coalition, in Baghdad on Thursday. According to a statement from Amiri’s office, the leader told Talabani that the PUK and KDP have to resolve their issues regarding the position of Iraqi presidency, adding that “the continuation of this difference will reflect in Iraq.” — Agencies