Iraq's Sadr-Abadi forge alliance
Baghdad, June 24 : Iraqs outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr have said they have become political allies in an effort to form a new government in the wake of a widely discredited May elections.
The announcement, made in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in a meeting between American ally Abadi and a long-time US foe Sadr on Saturday, came as a surprise to many political observers, the New York Times reported.
This was especially because Sadr -- the top vote-getter -- had already announced an alliance with a pro-Iranian Shiite leader, Hadi al-Ameri.
Ameri was second in the polls, while Abadi was third.
"This is a call for an alliance that is nonsectarian and rejects ethnic politics in order to include all of the Iraqi people," Sadr said at a joint news conference with Abadi, who is still the Prime Minister until the new parliament sits on July 1 and elects his replacement.
"We want to speed up the process of coming to a political agreement to send a positive message to the citizens that we are serious about moving forward," Abadi said.
Sadr scored an upset victory as the leading vote-getter in the May 12 national parliamentary elections, which were marred by the lowest voter turnout since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein. But no party won enough seats in parliament to govern without forming alliances with several of the many parties.
The results were also contested on grounds of fraud, with the outgoing parliament ordering a manual recount of the votes, a decision upheld by Iraq's highest court. It was unclear, however, whether the new parliament would carry out that decision, the New York Times report said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Tharoor, Surpriya Sule among seven MPs to lead India’s diplomatic outreach after Operation Sindoor
New Delhi: In a bid to reinforce India’s united stand against terrorism, the Union government on Saturday announced that Opposition leaders Shashi Tharoor, Supriya Sule and Kanimozhi are among the MP’s who will lead all-party delegations to “partner nations” following Operation Sindoor.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju made the announcement on social media platform X, stating: “In moments that matter most, Bharat stands united.” He added that the delegations will represent India’s message of zero-tolerance against terrorism, underlining national unity that transcends political lines.
“The all-party delegations will project India’s national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They would carry forth to the world the country’s strong message of zero-tolerance against terrorism,” the parliamentary affairs ministry said.
https://twitter.com/KirenRijiju/status/1923588921365069973
It added that MPs from several parties, notable political figures and diplomats will be part of each delegation.
The seven leaders heading these delegations are: Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Supriya Sule (NCP – Sharad Pawar faction), Kanimozhi (DMK), Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP), Baijayant Panda (BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JDU), and Shrikant Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena).
Several other political figures are reportedly expected to be included in the diplomatic exercise, including BJP leaders Nishikant Dubey, Bansuri Swaraj, Anurag Thakur, M.J. Akbar, Samik Bhattacharya, and Daggubati Purandeswari; Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari; AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi; Democratic Progressive Azad Party’s Ghulam Nabi Azad; and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi.
As per reports, each delegation will likely include 7–8 members and is expected to visit 4–5 countries over a span of approximately 10 days.
_vb_90.jpeg)
