Sadr calls on the judiciary to dissolve parliament imminently

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday called on the Iraqi judiciary to dissolve the parliament by the 'end of next week' and task the president with setting early elections, adding that the judiciary can dissolve the legislature without the need for a parliament session.

"I address my words to the competent judicial authorities, especially the president of the Supreme Judicial Council, hoping they correct the course ... to dissolve parliament after those constitutional violations within a period of not exceeding the end of next week," Sadr tweeted amid a crippling political deadlock shrouding Iraq's future with uncertainty.

In the statement, the popular cleric also asked all 73 resigned MPs of the Sadrist bloc and all other parliamentarians to submit official cases to relevant legal authorities requesting the legislature's dissolution, adding that "the judiciary is at stake" and claiming that he is "sure that many judges are with the people and with reform."

The decision to dissolve the parliament does not require the holding of a session to enact it, according to Sadr, who said that the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council maintains the authority to do so without any approval from the assembly.

While the Iraqi constitution does not explicitly confirm his claims, Article 94 states that "decisions of the Federal Supreme Court are final and binding for all authorities."

Sadr's statement contradicts that of major rival and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who said on Monday that there will be no dissolution of parliament or early elections should the parliament not return to holding sessions and call to do so itself. 

However, the top cleric backed the disbanding of parliament with the need to steer "away from the old, grim faces that the people despair of," calling them corrupt. He is likely referring to Maliki and other senior leaders of the Coordination Framework, a pro-Iran parliamentary alliance that became the legislature's largest faction following the withdrawal of Sadr's MPs in June.

The influential cleric's withdrawal from parliament was due to the Coordination Framework's opposition to his attempts at forming a national majority government.

Supporters of the Shiite cleric labeled the Coordination Framework's pick for PM as "corrupt" and accused him of having close ties to Maliki. They staged an open-ended sit-in inside the legislative building at 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.

"Meanwhile, the revolutionaries will continue their sit-ins and revolution ... and they will have another position if the people fail," Sadr continued.

On Sunday, Sadr stated that there were "no alternatives" to the dissolution of parliament as it has become a popular, national, and political demand and has received "positive responses" from Iraq's various components.

Iraq held early elections in October 2021, but has failed to form a government and has been grasped with a suffocating political deadlock, with the country currently experiencing a record nearly ten months without a permanent cabinet.