Early Election Only Way out Of Iraqi Crisis – Ayatollah Sistani

By Staff, Agencies

Iraq’s supreme religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani, said Friday that an early election was the only way out of the current unrest gripping the country and a new government should be formed soon.

"The fastest and most peaceful way out of the current crisis, and avoiding the unknown or chaos or civil strife, is to go back to the people by holding an early election after legislating a fair electoral law," Sayyed Sistani said.

The Iraqi Parliament failed on Wednesday to pass a new electoral law, a key demand of protesters, which would make elections fairer after votes in recent years have been marred by allegations of fraud.

"We hope that the formation of a new government is not delayed for long," Sayyed Sistani said in a speech read out by his representative at a Friday sermon in the holy city of Karbala.

Deadlock in parliament also held up the selection of an interim prime minister, causing lawmakers to miss on Thursday the constitutional deadline to name a replacement for Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who resigned last month but has remained in office in a caretaker capacity.