Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi and cleric Muqtada Sadr on Saturday said they had formed an alliance. During the parliamentary elections in May, Sadr bloc Saeroun came first while Abadi al-Nasr bloc came third. “We announce a cross-sectarian, cross-ethnic alliance to speed up forming the next government and to agree on common points that guarantee the interests of the Iraqi people,” they said at a news conference in Najaf. Yet earlier in June Sadr went into an alliance with Hadi al-Amiri, whose bloc Fatih came second and has close ties to Iran. It hasn’t been clear whether Saturday’s announcement meant that the three blocs are now gathered in one alliance but Abadi and Sadr affirmed that there alliance doesn’t mean closing the door against any other bloc joining. Abadi arrived in Najad on Saturday to participate in the commemoration of commander of Popular Mobilization Karim al-Khakani – a statement issued by his office revealed that he delivered a speech on the occasion and affirmed that the challenge faced today is not greater than the challenge of terrorist ISIS groups. Hinting on the problems that followed announcing elections results in May, he said that this journey can’t be concluded by forging elections and they won’t be part of the forging process. Sadr stressed the importance of forming a strong government supported by the parliament to maintain the achieved victories. In a related matter, the fourth amendment of the law proposed by the parliament has been brought to table in Friday’s session – the amendment suggests extending the work of the parliament to a specific duration. The fourth amendment consisted of one clause stipulating that the parliament continues its work until the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ratifies the elections outcome. Two weeks ago, the parliament endorsed the third amendment on the parliament elections law – it included obliging the commissioner to re-conduct the counting and assorting manually.