MPs close to the Sadrist bloc in the Iraqi Parliament have said that the bloc is nearing the crystallization of the form of a suggestion that would serve as a proposal to withdraw confidence from the Maliki government, and that the bloc is preparing such legislation to go before Parliament, al-Melaf reports in Arabic.

The Sadrist bloc is made up of 30 members of Parliament loyal to the young Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Melaf confirms that the Tawafuq Front would support such a proposal, if it was offered by another bloc, after learning of the Sadrist bloc’s intention to take action in this regard.

As reported earlier Monday, the Iraqi Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has said that he would support a vote of no-confidence against Maliki if it were offered by a bloc other than the Tawafuq Front.

Hashemi is leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest of the three parties that make up the Tawafuq Front, the largest Sunni Arab bloc in Parliament.

The widening gulf between the Sadrist bloc and the Maliki government has widenened in recent days as tensions have heightened between the PM and the Sadr loyalists, with recent media reports suggesting that the two parties have irrevocably broken relations.

However, a no-confidence measure would be the Sadrists' most direct challenge to the Maliki government since the bloc withdrew its ministers from the Maliki government.