Iraq
Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr speaks during a press conference in Najaf on November 18, 2021. File photo: AP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Top Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Saturday that the dissolution of the Iraqi parliament has “no alternatives” and called for the silencing of corruption in Iraq amid a suffocating political deadlock with the country marking ten months devoid of a permanent cabinet.
"Yes (dissolving the parliament) has become a popular, political, and elitist demand that has no alternative, and all the corrupt mouths should be silenced wherever they are," Sadr stated, adding "God is the guardian of success ... for God does not like corruption."
In the statement, Sadr also said that "positive responses" have been received from various components of society for the dissolution of parliament.
"Let us stay away from meager dialogue. Iraq needs actions, not words," he added.
The prominent cleric called for the dissolution of parliament and holding early elections on Wednesday, saying in a live video message that "the old faces, regardless of affiliations, will not exist anymore."
Iraq held snap parliamentary elections in October but disagreements prevented political parties from electing a president and a prime minister for the country.
Sadr, whose movement became the kingmakers of the vote by winning 73 seats, ordered all of his parliamentarians to resign from the parliament in June, making the pro-Iran Coordination Framework the largest coalition.
Supporters of the Shiite cleric labeled the Coordination Framework's pick for PM as "corrupt" and accused him of having close ties to former premier Nouri al-Maliki. They staged an open-ended sit-in inside the legislative building by the end of July in protest against the framework's pick for the premiership but the Sadrist Movement ordered them to leave the building and continue their activities in its vicinity.
Calls for snap elections by Sadr have also been welcomed by the Coordination Framework, which said it supports any "constitutional path" to resolve the current political impasse in Iraq.
Iraq is currently experiencing a record period without a government as the country closes in on ten months without a permanent cabinet.
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