BAGHDAD, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Wednesday confirmed that the upcoming meeting of political parties aimed at reviewing and agreeing on a program for the state administration in the next phase of the political process in the country.
"We have invited the political blocs to hold a national meeting, as the state consists of institutions and authorities, and to lay foundations for the state administration in the next phase in accordance with the constitution and the law," Abadi told a press conference after weekly cabinet meeting.
"A preparatory committee has been formed to put forward a national charter, and the political blocs have nominated their representatives to this committee," Abadi said, asserting that the national meeting of the political blocs will be soon.
"The agreement of the political blocs on the program of building state institutions and reform of its administration will facilitate reaching a consensus on the selection of new cabinet," Abadi added.
On Thursday, Abadi called on the political parties to hold a meeting after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr to agree on new mechanisms that would establish the next parliament and government.
Abadi's comments came after serious setbacks in the Iraqi political process following the elections held on May 12, after the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the final results of the parliamentary election.
The result showed that al-Sa'iroon Coalition backed by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was the front-runner and won 54 seats in the upcoming 329-seat parliament.
Many Iraqi parties, especially in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and the disputed areas, including Kirkuk province, have complained about alleged irregularities and forgery in the parliamentary election.
On June 11, Sadr warned of the seriousness of the situation in Iraq by the political struggle after a huge fire that burnt warehouses storing ballot boxes of Iraq's parliamentary election in downtown capital Baghdad.
"Iraq is in danger. So stop fighting for seats, posts, gains, influence and power," Sadr said in an statement issued by his office, one day after the fire.
The burned ballot boxes are part of a manual recount of votes, after the Iraqi parliament on June 6 approved recount of votes in all polling stations across Iraq over allegations of fraud and irregularities.
On May 12, millions of Iraqis went to 8,959 polling centers across the country to vote for their representatives in the next 329-seat parliament that will form a new government, which will rule Iraq for the next four years.
