Shiite cleric gives ultimatum for reform, threatening street protests

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warns Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that people are angry with the government and if reforms are not carried out in less than two months he will call for street protests.

“If the government does not make reforms in 45 days, we will take away its confidence,” said Sadr in an audio tape message released on Saturday.

He has given PM Abadi a 45-day ultimatum to implement wide-ranging reforms in government institutions.

“The Iraqi government brought Iraq to this day, putting it on the edge of fire,” said Sadr. “In case no reform is made, we will withdraw from the government.”

The Sadrist bloc has 34 members in the Iraqi parliament.

In his message the Shiite cleric accused the former government of Nouri al-Maliki and his cabinet of giving up part of Iraq’s territory with the fall of Mosul.

He demanded that “the criminals of the fall of Mosul and perpetrators of the Speicher [massacre] have to be punished,”

Sadr who leads the Mahdi Army militia said that the government must annul all deals it has signed with business companies since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.

Following weeks of public protests across Iraq, most notably in Baghdad in mid-2015, Abadi announced a series of reforms, including slashing high pay government positions and unnecessary employments.