Iraq
Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr giving a news conference in the city of Najaf on November 18. 2021. Photo: Ali Najafi/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Sadrist Movement on Thursday rejected a possible return to the Iraqi parliament and reaching an agreement with pro-Iran rivals, a close associate of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said, adding that the parliament will lose its legitimacy should Sadrist allies withdraw.
“The Sadrist bloc’s return to the parliament is absolutely and definitively forbidden, under any pretext,” reads a statement from Sadr associate Salih Mohammed al-Iraqi, indirectly asking Kurdish and Sunni allies to withdraw from the parliament to render it illegitimate.
Iraq was cast into chaos after Sadr announced his “definitive retirement” from politics late August, which sparked violent clashes between his supporters and loyalists of rival Iran-backed militias which claimed the lives of at least 30 and injured 500 others.
“The ball is in the court of the allies,” he said to allies of the Sadrists.
The statement also suggested Iraq’s president and prime minister to remain in the reins of power and reside over the caretaker government to prepare for the dissolution of parliament and early elections.
Prior to his withdrawal in June, Sadr was allied with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance. Together, they were the kingmakers of their respective components before the Coordination Framework overtook the Sadrist bloc as the largest Shiite faction in the legislature.
The statement also follows the filing of a lawsuit to Iraq’s top court appealing against the resignation of the Sadrist bloc MPs from the parliament, with the court expected to hold a hearing on September 28 to consider the case.
Iraq’s top court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit which requested the dissolution of the parliament, reiterating that the judicial body does not possess authority to carry out the decision.
The top Shiite cleric previously called for the dissolution of parliament in August, citing the parliament’s failure to form Iraq’s new government. His call further enraged thousands of his supporters who were already holding sit-ins in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.
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