Legal expert: Sadrist MPs resignation does not halt the parliament's work

Shafaq News/ The resignation of lawmakers cannot be revoked by a parliamentary voting or the rejection of the parliament speaker, legal expert Jamal al-Asadi said on Sunday.

The members of the Sadrist bloc in the Iraqi parliament resigned en masse following a statement by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, earlier today.

"It does not need a voting to approve those resignations. The parliament speaker cannot deny them either," al-Asadi told Shafaq News Agency.

"Their resignation awards them the right to retire. This, however, applies to the lawmakers who have completed a year in the parliament," he continued, "the resignation of the Sadrist movement does not impact the work of the legislative body. They will be replaced by the candidates who secured the next highest number of votes in the October 10 election."

Iraq's Parliament Speaker Mohammad al-Halboosi approved the resignation of the Sadrist bloc's lawmakers on Sunday.

Earlier today, the maverick Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr instructed the lawmakers affiliated with his movement to submit their resignation letters in a culmination of the bitter row with rival Shiite Coordination Framework over the formation of a new government in Iraq.

Al-Sadr's decision comes shortly after a phone call with the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani.

In a hand-written note appended by his signature, al-Sadr said, "the head of the bloc Hasan al-Azzari shall submit the resignation letters of the sisters and brothers in the bloc, with ultimate gratitude for what they did during this short period."

Al-Sadr also extended greetings to his cousin Jaafar al-Sadr, the Iraqi ambassador to London and the Sadrist candidate for the premiership, and his allies in the trilateral "Homeland Rescue" Coalition "for the patriotism and fortitude they exhibited."

"You are relieved from me," he addressed the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and al-Siyada bloc. 

The unorthodox populist leader ascribed his decision as a "sacrifice to salvage the Iraqis from an unknown fate; as we did earlier to liberate Iraq and its sovereignty, security, unity, and stability."

"Homeland comes first. I declare myself innocent before you and my people," he concluded.