No Way Out as Iraq's Dangerous Post-election Impasse Deepens

FILE - Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, on the poster, celebrate after the announcement of the results of the parliamentary elections in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. Eight months after national elections, Iraq still doesn't have a government. Driven by cutthroat competition for power and resources between elites, there is no clear way out of the unprecedented impasse. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Eight months after national elections, Iraq still doesn’t have a government and there seems to be 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, The Associated Press said.