No way out as Iraq’s dangerous post-election impasse deepens

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SAMYA KULLAB
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq still doesn’t have a government, eight months since national elections took place, and there seems no clear way out of the dangerous deadlock. Political elites are embroiled in cutthroat competition for power — even as the country faces growing challenges, including an impending food crisis resulting from severe drought and the war in Ukraine. For ordinary Iraqis, everything is delayed. The caretaker government is unable to make crucial electricity payments or draft plans for badly needed investment ahead of the critical summer months. Investments to upgrade water infrastructure have been paused. Unemployment, water shortages and concerns over food security are drawing public anger.