Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi on Friday called for a third round of national dialogue to resolve the country’s ongoing political crisis. Al Kadhimi has served in a caretaker PM role since a general election last October, as Iraqi political factions continue to squabble over forming a government.
“My government has called for a serious and transparent dialogue between all political forces and parties to discuss ways out of the current political crisis in an effort by the government to meet the people’s aspirations and hopes, and achieve their goals to secure our people’s future,” he told the UN General Assembly.
He also stated how the stability of the region relies on the stability of Iraq, and that any internal conflicts also have an impact globally.
“Iraq is keen to be a source of stability regionally and internationally,” he said.
“Iraq seeks to bring together different viewpoints and endeavours to find sustainable peaceful solutions to regional crises and mend ties between the region’s countries by introducing a number of initiatives to ensure peace and security in our region, a region that has long suffered from wars and crises.”
These remarks come amid Iraq’s ongoing political deadlock, with the main political actors preventing parliament from selecting a new speaker, president and prime minister. A dispute between the two largest Shiite blocs resulted in violent clashes on the streets of Baghdad and cities in the south of the country last month after Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr announced his resignation from politics, leaving hundreds injured.
