Dec 18, 2011

The last US military base closed on Friday, and the next day Allawi's political party walked out of Parliament. If they cannot muster a quarum, they can't vote on anything until they get some kind of agreement.

This could delay virtually everything for as long as this takes to resolve the crisis.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/17/183075.html

The secular Iraqiya bloc, which won most of the votes of Iraq’s disenchanted Sunni Arab minority, walked out of parliament on Saturday sparking a political crisis days after U.S. forces ended their mission.

The bloc, led by former premier Iyad Allawi, said it was suspending its participation in parliamentary business in protest at what it charged was Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s monopolization of all decision-making.

“We can no longer remain silent about the way the state is being administered, as it is plunging the country into the unknown,” said the bloc, which holds 82 of the 325 seats in parliament, second only to Maliki’s National Alliance.

 

“The Iraqiya bloc is suspending its participation in parliament from Saturday and calling for the opening of a round-table to find a solution that will support democracy and civil institutions,” it said.