Iraq’s parliament is to convene again on Thursday amid a deepening crisis roiling the house where dozens of legislators have been holding a sit-in protest for the third consecutive day.
The session was scheduled after parliament speaker, Salim al-Jibouri, formally called for the chamber to be dissolved as scuffles broke out inside the parliament on Wednesday.
Lawmakers resorted to throwing water bottles and punching each other in heated arguments over a delayed vote on a new Cabinet.
The chaotic scenes reflected a growing political crisis in Iraq, even as the country wages war against the Islamic State (ISIS). Eventually the scuffles subsided and no one was seriously hurt.
Lawmakers staging the sit-in, both Sunni and Shiite from across Iraq’s entire political spectrum, have demanded Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the country’s top leadership resign.
On Tuesday, parliament delayed voting on new Cabinet ministers proposed by al-Abadi in an attempt to push through reforms, nearly nine months after he first proposed austerity measures that he claimed would also tackle corruption.
The postponement prompted dozens of legislators to begin the sit-in.
If the parliament is dissolved, as house speaker al-Jibouri proposed, the move would push new elections.
Sunni lawmaker Raad al-Dahlaki said Thursday he doubts this would happen.
“I’m guessing that it’s just a maneuver to buy time,” he told The Associated Press. But if it does, he added, “a new government may help solve the corruption problems.”
Many Iraqis blame their lawmakers for entrenched corruption that has exacerbated an economic crisis engulfing the country.
