Iraq independents, opposition groups form parliament coalition to hold Baghdad government accountable

Independent and opposition winners in Iraq's parliamentary elections announced Wednesday that they had formed a new coalition.

The parliamentary coalition is currently made up of 28 MPs elected in October's vote and is yet to decide a name for the bloc.

The group includes nine MPs from Iraqi Kurdistan's New Generation movement, and another nine MPs from Imtidad, a group consisting of key figures from the ongoing October 2019 protest movement. The other ten members of the coalition are independents.

The coalition's numbers are not final, with members continuing to invite other independents to join the bloc.

"The doors of the coalition are open to the honourable people who want to build the homeland; there is no place for those looking out for their own personal interests," New Generation leader Shaswar Abdulwahid told press in Baghdad.

The Sadrist movement, led by cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, was the election's big winner. It is in meetings with other groups to try to establish a coalition government.

Imtidad leader Alaa Al-Rikabi said the new group would not be participating in any coalition government and only exists to hold the future government to account.

Al-Rikabi hailed the new movement as an example of brotherhood between Arabs and Kurds.