Iraqi MPs hold sit-in demanding change in country's leadership

A hundred Iraqi MPs are holding a sit-in in parliament demanding the removal of the president, prime minister and parliamentary speaker as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's promised reforms have failed to materialise.

The protests come after Tuesday's hearing to vote on a cabinet reshuffle descended into chaos.

Sections of parliament were angered by Abadi's new proposed ministerial lineup - they say it is based on the same sectarian quota system that has entrenched government corruption.

Abadi has come under pressure from protesters and a recent sit-in at the gates of Baghdad's Green Zone led by powerful cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr. 

The prime minister pledged to form a technocratic government of qualified candidates not dictated by the country's powerful political blocs.

However, on Monday the prime minister met with the leaders of the leading political parties and signed a pledge to consult them in the formation of the new government.

This move was seen by many observers as a declaration to maintain the status quo.

The protesting MPs on Tuesday called for an emergency parliamentary meeting to be held on Wednesday to discuss the removal of the country's top three officials, who they accuse of propping up the sectarian quota system.

This means that government posts and seats are allocated on the basis of Iraq's main religious and ethnic components - Shia, Sunni Arab and Kurdish - which opponents say keep the country divided after over a decade of sectarian bloodshed.

Further, the prime minister cannot sack corrupt or unqualified ministers because these posts are dictated by political parties, whose networks of patronage extend to all levels of government, they say.

Mashan al-Jabouri, one of the protesting MPs holed up in the parliamentary chamber, posted a video explaining that the new cabinet line-up offers the country nothing new.

Sadr had threatened the government that his supporters would storm the Green Zone if reform measures were not passed and rampant corruption was not controlled.

He also announced the formation of a new parliamentary bloc that currently contains 114 protesting MPs from various religious and political backgrounds. 

They demand the removal of the country's top three officials and the formation of an independent technocratic government.

"Members of Jabhat Ahrar al-Iraq have signed a pledge that they do not want to become ministers and they insist on an independent technocratic government that would govern Iraq until the next elections," Jubouri said in the video.

Adel Nouri, an MP for the Kurdish Islamic Union, who is a member for the newly formed bloc told Alghad Press that the new entity will "transcend sectarian, ethnic and partisan politics".

Earlier this month, influential Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his supporters to end a two week sit-in next to the government headquarters to demand reforms, after the prime minister proposed a new cabinet lineup of technocrats.

Sadr had threatened the government that his supporters would storm the Green Zone if reform measures were not passed and rampant corruption was not controlled.

However, the new line-up soon began to crumble as ministerial nominees withdrew their nominations under pressure from powerful political blocs.

On Tuesday evening, a person described by Iraqi media as being part of Sadr's inner circle posted a cryptic message on his Facebook page: "The time for the people has come".

Observers believe this is an indication to Sadr's next move.