Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has asked lawmakers from his parliamentary bloc to submit their resignations to the parliament speaker, he said in a statement on Sunday.
Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi has accepted the resignations.
In a written statement, Sadr said the step "is a sacrifice for the nation and people to save them from an unknown fate" given the political impasse that has plagued the country for months.
"We have previously made sacrifices for the liberation, sovereignty, security, prosperity and stability of Iraq," he stated.
He expressed his gratitude to the lawmakers for their work during their short time in office since the October parliamentary elections.
The Sadrist lawmakers last week had collectively signed their resignations and submitted them to Sadr.
The cleric had recently declared that the political impasse in the country is "deliberate", underscoring his demand to form a national majority government.
Iraq was plunged in crisis after Sadr emerged as victor in the elections.
His Shiite rivals in the pro-Iran Coordination Framework have challenged the results and dismissed the polls as a sham.
Sadr has since formed a coalition with Sunni and Kurdish MPs to form a comfortable majority bloc in parliament.
As the Framework demonstrated it was unwilling to help form the government, Sadr announced he would grant them three months to form one and yet, no progress was made.
