ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Parliamentary Reconstruction and Development Bloc, led by former Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani, said on Sunday it has not received representation proportionate to its electoral strength following the formation of the new cabinet, with several ministerial posts still awaiting parliamentary approval.
“The outcomes of the negotiation process revealed a clear imbalance in the distribution of political entitlements,” the bloc said in a statement, adding that “some blocs secured positions that exceed their actual parliamentary and public weight,” while it “did not receive representation proportionate to its electoral and political size.”
The Iraqi parliament on Thursday confirmed Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister, approving his government program and 14 of his 23 cabinet members while deferring votes on nine remaining portfolios, including defense and interior. Sudani’s bloc secured only two ministerial seats, oil and electricity, despite winning 46 seats in the mid-November elections to become parliament’s largest political group.
The bloc said it would continue to support “every step that strengthens stability, reform, and development,” in a manner that preserves the “prestige” of the state and protects the “aspirations” of the Iraqi people.
Following Thursday’s parliamentary vote of confidence, Falih al-Fayyadh and Ahmad al-Asadi, leaders of the National Contract Bloc with 14 seats, and the Sumerians Movement with five, announced their withdrawal from Sudani’s political alliance on Friday, saying they will form a new coalition that “will be announced soon.”
In a joint statement, the leaders said their exit was due to Thursday’s vote, describing it as "a clear circumvention of political and organizational agreements, a breach of the pledges and covenants that were agreed upon, and the adoption of exclusionary and marginalizing tactics against a number of the people's representatives."