Iraqi parliament swears in new members to replace Sadrists

Iraq’s parliament swore in 64 new lawmakers on Thursday to replace 73 members of a bloc led by Muqtada al-Sadr after the powerful Shiite Muslim cleric asked them to step down amid a prolonged stalemate over forming a government.

Nine MPs did not attend the session.

A Parliamentary source reported yesterday, Wednesday, that the Parliament Presidium asked the candidates who secured the largest numbers of votes to attend the session scheduled to be held today.

The source told said that the 73 candidates were asked to attend the session on Thursday, at 11 am, to take the constitutional oath and replace the resigned Sadrist MPs in Parliament.

Six of the candidates will not attend the session, since they were initially nominated by the Sadrist movement, according to the source.