Iraqi legislators have approved Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s resignation during a parliament session held in capital Baghdad amid weeks of deadly anti-government protests in the country.
Referring to Article 76 of the country’s constitution, Speaker Mohammad al-Halbusi on Sunday said President Barham Saleh will now ask the largest political bloc in parliament to nominate the next prime minister.
On Friday, an embattled Abdul Mahdi formally submitted his offer to step down following the killing of more than 50 demonstrators by the security forces in Baghdad and Iraq’s mainly Shia southern cities of Nasiriya and Najaf.
The statement by Abdul Mahdi, who assumed office a little over a year ago, came shortly after Iraq’s top Shia leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, condemned the use of lethal force against the protesters and called for a new government.
A cabinet meeting on Saturday had approved the statement, which also suggested the resignation of key members of the Iraqi government, including Abdul Mahdis’ chief of staff.
Legal experts say Abdul Mahdi’s government will take on a caretaker role for 30 days or until the largest bloc in parliament agrees on a new candidate to replace him.
But with the question as to who forms the largest political bloc in parliament remaining unanswered, that decision may take longer to reach.
Bylaws of the Council of Ministers stipulate that the prime minister should send his resignation to the president. If he does so, the president would take over until the largest bloc in parliament nominates an alternative, which according to article 81 of Iraq’s constitution, should be within two weeks.
But in a pre-recorded speech on Saturday, Abdul Mahdi did not mention the president. Instead, he said that acting on the advice of Iraq’s chief Supreme Court judge, he would submit his resignation to parliament.
“The perspective I received from the chief of the federal supreme court is that the resignation should be submitted to those who voted the government in,” he said, calling on the parliament to select an alternative prime minister to lead the country.
Earlier on Sunday, Iraqi member of parliament Nassim Abdullah told Al Jazeera that parliamentarians were expected to vote on Abdul Mahdi’s resignation, adding that “the vote will be in favour of him stepping down”.
Another member of parliament, Mohamed al-Daraji, had told Al Jazeera that “no vote will be taking place during Sunday’s session, because the constitution does not require a vote of no-confidence”.
But according to legal experts in Iraq, whether or not a vote took place in parliament, Abdul Mahdi’s resignation was already in effect.
“The Iraqi constitution does not stipulate that the prime minister’s resignation is pending a parliamentary vote or the president’s acceptance,” legal expert Tareq Harb told Al Jazeera.
Ahmed al-Inazi, a legal expert at the Iraqi legal development centre agreed. “Abdul Mahdi’s resignation does not need approval from parliament,” he said.
“Since the premier offered to resign, legally the prime minister and his whole government have stepped down, a step that does not need a parliamentary vote.”
According to both the legal experts, Abdul Mahdi’s government has taken on a caretaker role, which will only address urgent issues until a new government is sworn in.
“Based on the constitution, the largest political blocs and alliances will have 15 days to nominate a candidate which the president will then assign to form a new government within 30 days,” Harb told Al Jazeera.
“This new cabinet will then be voted on by parliament which needs an absolute majority to be voted in,” he added.
Inazi agreed: “A caretaker government [under Abdul Mahdi’s leadership] will continue until the political blocs select a new prime minister,” he said, adding that discussions around who will replace Abdul Mahdi are expected to start during Sunday’s parliamentary session.
While the largest political bloc will have the right to decide on Abdul Mahdi’s replacement, Iraqi parliamentarians and legal experts expect a “political tug of war” to unfold as parliamentary blocs try to forge alliances amongst each other.
“There will be an ongoing political tug of war and manoeuvring like what we saw following the elections in May last year,” Harb told Al Jazeera, adding that negotiations may leave Abdul Mahdi’s government in a caretaker role for a longer time period than expected.
“The largest political blocs, Fatah and Sairoon, may no longer be the decision-makers this time around,” he added.
Elections in May 2018 ended without a single bloc winning a majority of seats to select a new prime minister.
To avoid a political crisis, parliament’s two main political blocs – Sairoon, led by Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and the Fatah bloc led by Hadi al-Amiri and linked to the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Units (PMF) – eventually forged an alliance, nominating Abdul Mahdi as prime minister.
But since the protests began, parliament has been deeply divided with Sadr going back and forth on his position to back the protesters, while Fatah, the second largest bloc in parliament, has backed the government.
“It is unclear how a new government will be formed,” said Fanar al-Haddad, research fellow at the Middle East Institute at the University of Singapore.
“Will another consensus government emerge?” he asked. “Or can a group or constellation of political actors form a majority government and an opposition? All this remains to be seen.”
Although Abdul Mahdi’s statement offering to quit was welcomed by the protesters in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, they said they will continue to demonstrate until they see a complete overhaul of the country’s political situation.
“The prime minister’s resignation is only a dot in the ocean of our demands,” said Dania, a 20-year-old IT student at Nahrayn Univeristy, who has been protesting in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square since early October.
“We won’t go back home until the PM’s resignation triggers the parliament to be dissolved and early elections are held so that all the political parties and militias currently in power could be removed,” she added.
At least 400 people have been killed since anti-government protests gripped Baghdad and Iraq’s mainly Shia south in early October over the lack of basic services, employment opportunities, and corruption across the ranks of the political elite.
According to Haddad, unless protesters see a real change, protests will continue.
“Public sentiment has reached a point where it cannot be placated by piecemeal or cosmetic changes,” said Haddad.
“If all that the political class can offer is a rearranged constellation of the same faces, there will be more public anger and a possible escalation of protests,” he added.
