The Sairoon  coalition (bringing together Shia clergy Moqtada al-Sadr and the Communist Party), came first in Iraq's general elections on 12 May. 

Sairoon won 54 seats in the 329-seat parliament. The Naser coalition, headed by current Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi, came third with 42 seats.

The coalition has begun talks to explore the possibility of making a government. The first meeting, not surprisingly, was that between al-Sadr and Abadi.

After their meeting in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, the two leaders gave their opinion of the meeting in a joint statement. They agreed on the establishment of the new government as soon as possible.

Speaking at the press conference, Abadi called on all political parties to accept the election results. Abadi said that any objection made should be limited to the constitutional framework.

Speaking about his meeting with al-Sadr, Abadi said that they had exchanged ideas on the establishment of a strong government, working to improve the living conditions and to fight corruption. 

Moqtada al-Sadr said that the new government to be established will be guarantor of the Iraqi law and that anyone who wants to build this new Iraq will be welcomed.

Furthermore, yesterday al-Sadr has accepted in Najaf the ambassadors of neighbouring states in Iraq who served in Baghdad.

Among them were the ambassadors of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait. Speaking at the meeting with the ambassadors, al-Sadr said that his country expects relations with neighbouring countries to be based on friendship not hostility.