<p>The largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, led by powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, announced Saturday a boycott of a session called next week to elect the country's president.</p>.<p>The 73-member bloc's parliamentary chief, Hassan al-Izari, told a news conference they will not attend Monday's session in the 329-seat house, making a vote unlikely although technically a quorum could be reached.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/iraq-struggles-to-make-use-of-saddams-crumbling-palaces-1077603.html" target="_blank">Iraq struggles to make use of Saddam's crumbling palaces</a></strong></p>.<p>The vote for president, a largely ceremonial role traditionally reserved for Iraq's Kurds in post-Saddam Iraq, primarily pits the incumbent Barham Saleh against his top challenger, former minister Hoshyar Zebari, candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).</p>.<p>The latter's candidacy has stirred controversy due to years-old corruption accusations against him in court that led to his 2016 dismissal from the post of finance minister.</p>.<p>"Our withdrawal is a message to the Kurds, in particular to the KDP, for them to agree on a single candidate," a Sadrist MP told <em>AFP</em>, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.</p>.<p>The MP, whose bloc's triumph in general elections last year has left Sadr in the driving seat in complex negotiations to select a new prime minister, said Zebari was "not a consensus (candidate)".</p>.<p>After having served for a decade as foreign minister followed by two years as finance minister, parliament fired Zebari in September 2016, notably over charges that $1.8 million of public funds were diverted to pay for airline tickets for his personal security detail.</p>.<p>Zebari has always denied any corruption accusations.</p>.<p>"I have not been convicted in any court," he said in a television interview on Friday night as the charges resurfaced alongside forecasts he would unseat Saleh, candidate of KDP's rival in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>The largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, led by powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, announced Saturday a boycott of a session called next week to elect the country's president.</p>.<p>The 73-member bloc's parliamentary chief, Hassan al-Izari, told a news conference they will not attend Monday's session in the 329-seat house, making a vote unlikely although technically a quorum could be reached.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/iraq-struggles-to-make-use-of-saddams-crumbling-palaces-1077603.html" target="_blank">Iraq struggles to make use of Saddam's crumbling palaces</a></strong></p>.<p>The vote for president, a largely ceremonial role traditionally reserved for Iraq's Kurds in post-Saddam Iraq, primarily pits the incumbent Barham Saleh against his top challenger, former minister Hoshyar Zebari, candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).</p>.<p>The latter's candidacy has stirred controversy due to years-old corruption accusations against him in court that led to his 2016 dismissal from the post of finance minister.</p>.<p>"Our withdrawal is a message to the Kurds, in particular to the KDP, for them to agree on a single candidate," a Sadrist MP told <em>AFP</em>, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.</p>.<p>The MP, whose bloc's triumph in general elections last year has left Sadr in the driving seat in complex negotiations to select a new prime minister, said Zebari was "not a consensus (candidate)".</p>.<p>After having served for a decade as foreign minister followed by two years as finance minister, parliament fired Zebari in September 2016, notably over charges that $1.8 million of public funds were diverted to pay for airline tickets for his personal security detail.</p>.<p>Zebari has always denied any corruption accusations.</p>.<p>"I have not been convicted in any court," he said in a television interview on Friday night as the charges resurfaced alongside forecasts he would unseat Saleh, candidate of KDP's rival in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>