ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s newly established National Political Council, an umbrella group of Sunni parties, said in a statement on Thursday that it will prepare a document outlining its vision for managing the state in the next phase and work to expedite the ratification of the parliamentary election results.

In late November, Sunni leaders from Taqaddum, Azm, the Sovereignty Alliance, Hasm al-Watani, and the Al-Jamahir Party announced the formation of the National Political Council, a unified Sunni bloc modeled on the Shiite Coordination Framework.

The council held a meeting on Thursday at the headquarters of Taqaddum Party leader Mohammed al-Halbousi in Baghdad.

The Sunni blocs said it will work to “expedite the ratification of the parliamentary election results” and to “prepare a document outlining the Council's vision regarding the program for managing the Iraqi state in the upcoming period,” read a statement. 

The council said it will continue talks with Iraqi political parties to reach a consensus on “constitutional entitlements, government formation,” and building an effective joint program that serves the interests of the Iraqi people.

Iraq concluded its sixth parliamentary elections on November 11, in which over 7,750 candidates competed for the Iraqi legislature’s 329 seats. No party won enough seats to earn a parliamentary majority, with inter-party negotiations to form the next Iraqi cabinet being essential as a result.

Mohammed al-Halbousi’s Taqaddum Party and its coalitions scored the highest number of seats among the Sunni forces in the recent elections, securing 36 seats.

With the final results announced, the upcoming Iraqi parliament must hold its first session within 15 days, during which the representatives elect a speaker, a post that traditionally goes to a Sunni Arab.

However, while the Sunni forces have aligned, not all believe that such an alliance will persist.

Former Sunni MP Kamel Nawaf al-Ghurairi, who is no longer affiliated with any party, described the alliance as “a gathering of faces, not of hearts.”