Leader of the Sadrist movement Moqtada al-Sadr has returned to Najaf from Beirut after being away for more than three months.
Although his office has not commented on the reasons behind this long absence and return, it has dismissed claims that he has been ill.
Bahaa al-Araji, a member of the Sadrist Movement and a former deputy Prime Minister, announced last week that Sadr will soon return to Baghdad and will launch a new initiative regarding Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s uncompleted government.
Abdul Mahdi will attend a meeting on Wednesday at the residence of head of the Reform and Reconstruction Coalition Ammar al-Hakim, the coalition said.
“A meeting will be held to discuss many significant issues,” read a statement by the coalition's general body, adding that Abdul Mahdi was invited to attend it.
The Coalition includes Sadr's Saairun Alliance, Haider al-Abadi's Victory Alliance, Hakim's National Wisdom Movement, Iyad Allawi's al-Wataniya Coalition and other political blocs.
Saairun MP representing Badr al-Ziadi said the law on expelling foreign troops from Iraq has been drafted.
“We are only waiting for the Premier’s decision regarding the troops that he might need to keep,” he said.
“Abdul Mahdi was supposed to hold a session on March 10, but the acceleration of events and political issues... prevented him from doing so,” he added.
Meanwhile, political blocs remain at loggerheads over the failure to complete the cabinet formation. The differences between them lie on four ministries, two of which are so-called sovereign portfolios.
Al-Mihwar al-Watani MP representing Abdullah al-Khirbit told Asharq Al-Awsat that the blocs are bickering on the candidates for the four remaining portfolios - defense, interior, education and justice - in Abdul Mahdi’s cabinet.
He said the dispute will likely be resolved after the return of Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi from his official visit to the United States.
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