Sadr dissolves own political party following withdrawal from elections

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The leader of the Sadrist movement and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, decided on Thursday to close the political body of the Sadrist movement, hours after he announced his withdrawal from the upcoming elections.  

A document issued by the private office of the Sadr movement in Najaf stated that "in view of the current circumstances and in the interest of the people and the country, it was decided to dissolve the political party."

Sadr’s announcement comes three months ahead of the parliamentary election and days after a deadly fire swept through a coronavirus ward at a Nasiriyah hospital, killing dozens and igniting public anger against the government.

The statement also included that Sadr appointed Nassar al-Rubaie, head of the political body, and his deputy, Muhammad al-Mawsili, as his advisors.

Sadr does not hold an elected position himself, but he leads the Sairoon coalition, parliament’s largest bloc. He was among the first people to speak up in January when the election was postponed from June 6 to October 10, saying he would not accept any further delay.

“I will not allow another postponement of the elections as long as I live,” he said at the time.

This is not the first time that Sadr has announced his boycott of the elections, his retirement from “political life” and the closure of the political arm of his movement. This happened in 2014, according to a statement by al Sadr back then saying, "I declare that I will not interfere in any political matters and that no bloc represents us anymore."

Sadr also froze his bloc in Parliament in 2016, and before that, he withdrew all his ministers from the government in 2013, however, the controversial leader retracted those decisions shortly after.

Sadr has been a vocal supporter of reform and anti-corruption campaigns for years. When anti-government protests broke out in October 2019, he sent members of his militia forces, the Peace Brigades to protect the demonstrators. However, Sadr changed his position and by February 2020, his militias were involved in violence against protests.