In a Friday prayers sermon delivered by Sistani’s representative Ahmed al-Safi in the holy city of Karbala, the Shia cleric called the parliament's inability to form a new government a "regrettable failure."
The country’s constitution must be the basis for resolving all issues, Safi said, urging all Iraqi blocs to respect that.
Last Tuesday, the Iraqi lawmakers failed to choose a speaker in their first session, which ended in disarray as Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers did not show up after a break.
“It is very important to speed up forming of the new government according to the constitutional frameworks and this government should have a wide national acceptance,” Safi said, adding, “It is also important that the president of Iraq, prime minister, and speaker of parliament be harmonious with each other.”
The crisis in Iraq escalated after militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of Mosul, in a lightning advance on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.
An estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the United Nations.
The ISIL has vowed to continue its raid towards Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country’s security forces would confront the terrorists, calling the seizure of Mosul a “conspiracy".
Soldiers of the Iraqi army have been engaged in heavy fighting with the militants on different fronts and have so far been able to push back militants in several areas.
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