ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Muqtada al-Sadr, Shiite cleric and leader of the Sayirun Alliance, warned the Iraqi parliament that it has ten days to fill the cabinet posts, or he will take action, he announced in a letter posted to social media on Monday evening. This comes on the heels of Shiite heavyweights expressing their dissatisfaction with the lack of progress of Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s government.
Calling the deep rivalry and competition over the positions of Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice “haram” (religiously forbidden) and oppressive to the people, Sadr, the winner of Iraq’s May election, announced his “final call” to the parties in a letter.
“Everyone has to rise above these disgraceful, worldly matters [competition over posts] for the sake of Iraq and its people,” Sadr said.
Months after Iraq’s government was formed, parties are no closer to filling the critical security positions of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice.
At the heart of the disagreement is Sadr’s Sayirun, and the pro-Iran Fatih alliance.
Sadr has demanded that the two critical posts be filled by technocrats to avoid party intervention in determining the positions. Fatih, on the other hand, has continued to monopolize the positions.
A third ministry, the Ministry of Justice, is empty due to disputes between the two major Kurdish parties Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“I direct my speech to all the political blocs, that they authorize the Prime Minister to finish his ministerial cabinet in just ten days,” Sadr said, adding those chosen for the remaining ministries should be chosen based on “integrity, competency, and specialty”.
“Otherwise I won’t back him,” Sadr said.
He added that the remaining parliamentary committees need to be voted on. “Otherwise we will have a different stance, and you know about our stances,” Sadr warned.
Sadr, throughout 2016 all the way to 2017, led protests termed “million-man protests” in Iraq, championing reform and anti-corruption.
His rhetoric is a strong warning to the rulers of Iraq. In the summer, with electricity outages and dissatisfaction with services, Iraqis have already made their way to the streets to demonstrate.
PM Abdul-Mahdi, who is an independent and lacks a block of his own, would lose a major patron if Sadr goes through with his threats to intervene in the parliament.
Sadr’s dissatisfaction and warnings comes on the heels of the highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Sistani’s, own open irritation with the current Iraqi government and demands for change.
