Sadr supporters storm Iraqi parliament, protesting against PM candidate

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled removed walls which separate Baghdad’s Green Zone from the rest of the city and entered the parliament building on Wednesday, protesting against a premiership candidate announced by the Coordination Framework earlier this week. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called on the demonstrators to withdraw. 

The pro-Iran Coordination Framework on Monday announced Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, Iraq’s former minister of labour and social affairs, as their candidate for the country’s prime minister position, in a step towards ending the political impasse that has plagued Iraq for months.

Sadr’s supporters have rejected Sudani’s nomination, accusing him of corruption. They breached Baghdad's fortified Green Zone where most of the government’s key institutions and offices of foreign missions are located and entered the parliament building. 

The protesters also chanted slogans against Iran. 

Kadhimi called on the protesters “to abide by their peace and preserve public and private property, and to the instructions of the security forces responsible with protecting them in accordance with the laws and regulations, and to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone,” according to a statement from his office. 

He later called on them to withdraw from the parliament building. 

The protesters began leaving the building later in the night after Sadr called on them a tweet to "return home," adding their message was "received."   

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement late Wednesday that "the right to peaceful protest is essential to democracy." 

"However, it goes hand in hand with respect for state institutions and the safeguarding of public and private property. It is imperative that protests remain peaceful and in compliance with the law," it added. 

Nouri al-Maliki, former Iraqi PM and leader of the State of Law Coalition, said in a statement that the protesters' breaching of the Green Zone and entry to the parliament was "a blatant violation" of demonstration right. 

Maliki, whose coalition is the backbone of the Framework Coalition, called on the protesters to withdraw. 

Sudani was selected as the pro-Iran faction’s candidate for Iraq’s premiership through a unanimous vote between leaders of the alliance, according to a statement from the framework. He is currently an MP in the Iraqi parliament.

Born in 1970, Sudani entered politics from a young age, especially after the killing of his father by Saddam Hussein’s Baath regime in 1980 due to his affiliation with the Islamic Dawa Party. He participated in the 1991 anti-regime Shaaban uprising for three years.

Sadr, who was the main winner of the October elections, withdrew from the parliament last month after failing to reach an agreement with the rival Coordination Framework to form a government.