Iraq PM Al Sudani to run in elections with new alliance
His sight set on a second term in office, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has unveiled a new alliance to compete in the country's national election later this year. 'We have placed the interest of Iraq and Iraqis first and foremost,' said a statement by the alliance on the parliamentary election due to take place on November 11, adding that it will 'build on the significant strides that have been achieved' since Mr Al Sudani took office in October 2022. The new Reconstruction and Development Coalition includes Mr Al Sudani's Al Foratain Movement, The National Coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi and The National Contract Coalition led by the chairman of the paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) Falih Al Fayyadh, according to the statement. The US sanctioned Mr Al Fayyadh for his role in the quelling of pro-democracy protests in 2019 with the support of Iran's Quds Force. Other alliances include The Soumar Land alliance, which is led by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al Asadi, The National Alliance of Solutions, led by one of the Prime Minister's advisers, Mohammed Sahib Al Daraji, Karbala Creativity Alliance, and The Generations Gathering. This year's election will be the sixth since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The last one, brought forward in response to demands from a pro-reform protest movement that began in 2019 across central and southern Iraq, took place in October 2021. Mr Al Sudani was the candidate for the Iran-aligned Co-ordination Framework – the largest political group in the Iraqi parliament, with 138 out of 329 seats and consisting of Iran-backed political parties and armed factions. Since taking office, political and security stability has encouraged his government to launch a series of infrastructure projects and to introduce reforms to improve the country's business environment and public services. Several mega deals have been signed with major international companies as well as countries, mainly in the field of energy. 'Our goals include sustainable reconstruction, economic growth, infrastructure development; and strengthening security, stability and international relations,' the statement added. Bitter rivalry among political elites, mainly among the country's majority Shiites, delayed the process of forming a government for a year, after the October 2021 election. Shiite cleric and political leader Moqtada Al Sadr's efforts to form the government failed, despite his Sadrist bloc winning 73 of the 329 seats in parliament. His desire to form a majority government only with Sunni and Kurdish parties upset his rivals in the Co-ordination Framework. In June 2022, Mr Al Sadr ordered his MPs to resign from parliament and withdraw from the country's political process until it was purged of what he described as 'the corrupt'. There have been no indications yet about whether or not Mr Al Sadr will take part in the November election.
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