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Iraq
Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (R) drives a car as he joins anti-government demonstrators gathering in the central holy city of Najaf on October 29, 2019. . Photo: AFP / STR
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Muqtada al-Sadr’s attempt to form a coalition to quickly oust current Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi appears to have hit a roadblock.
The Shiite cleric has been left disappointed after Hadi al-Amiri’s bloc expressed opposition to early elections, preferring to leave the matter in parliament’s hands amid ongoing and widespread protests.
"I will no longer join alliances with you," Sadr said, in a reply to al-Amiri, head of the rival parliamentary bloc, after trying to form an alliance in opposition to Abdul-Mahdi.
In a tweet on Tuesday night, Sadr had called for cooperation with Amiri to sack the Iraqi PM.
"I ask brother Hadi al-Amiri for cooperation in order to withdraw trust from you," Sadr told Abdul-Mahdi in his tweet. "As we will also work on modifying the constitution and changing the Iraqi High Electoral
Commission and its regulations."
Amiri heads the Bina Coalition, which contains former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and political parties affiliated with Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitaries, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic.
Sadr heads the rival Islah Coalition, which consists of previous Iraqi PM Abadi, among other blocs. The two, Islah and Bina, after months of disagreement, settled on current Iraqi PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi as a "candidate of compromise" for premiership.
Responding to Sadr, Amiri said he was ready to cooperate but appears to have rejected the idea of early elections.
"We will cooperate together to achieve the interests of the Iraqi people and saving the country as required by the public interest," Hadi al-Amiri, the head of Badr Organization political party and a major
backer of Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, said in response.
Wajih Abbas, an MP in the Fatah Alliance, the backbone of Amiri's Bina coalition, told Rudaw on Wednesday that agreement is needed between parliamentary blocs before sacking the Iraqi PM.
"Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigning has its own constitutional and legal method, and this might be his government's final week," Abbas said.
Abbas, however, rejected Sadr's "direct method" of resignation, explaining that parliament must first invite the PM for questioning, then decide if they want to fire him. "Sacking Adil Abdul-Mahdi requires
dialogue and agreement. Adil Abdul-Mahdi became the Prime Minister based on a Sairoon and Bina agreement," said Abbas.
"The current problems have accumulated from the past successive governments," Abbas said, deflecting responsibility from the current PM. There are movements to resolve Iraq's current situation as the
country "can't continue like this".
With his overture to Amiri rebuffed, Sadr warned that Iraq will become the next Syria or Yemen if Prime
Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi doesn't resign.
"His not resigning will turn Iraq into Syria and Yemen," Sadr, who heads one of the two biggest blocs in Iraqi parliament, said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Sadr said that it is a warning, and he doesn't mean to scare the people as they are "above" fear. He added that if Abdul-Mahdi doesn't resign,then blood spilling from Iraqi protests will continue and "deepen the crisis".
Sadr, in recent days, has withdrawn his support from the Iraqi government, calling for snap elections.
On October 28, Sadr called on the Iraqi PM to announce snap elections under international supervision.
The following day, October 29, the Iraqi PM rejected the notion, instead telling Sadr to cooperate with Amiri to form a new government.
"If the purpose of elections is to change the government, then there are shorter roads, and that is if your Eminence [Sadr] agrees with brother Amiri to form a new government, and then the Prime Minister can present his resignation," the Iraqi PM said.
Iraqis have been on the streets several times in recent years to protest corruption, unemployment, bad services and a lack of electricity, among other problems plaguing the country.
Most of the protesters are young Iraqis, and who largely boycotted Iraq's May 12, 2018 parliamentary elections. 60% of Iraqis are under 25.
Iraqi youth renewed their protests on October 1, 2019. Their protests entered weeks of hiatus, mainly due to observance of the holy Shiite religious ceremony of Arbaeen, since the protests mostly take place in the Shiite south.
On October 25, after the conclusion of the religious observance, they returned to the streets.
Iraqis have been met with deadly force, including tear gas and live rounds during both waves of protests.
At least 157 people were killed in the first nine days of October, according to the United Nations.
Tuesday, however, was one of the most deadly days following after a "massacre" against protesters in the holy city of Karbala.
As many as 35 people were killed and more than 800 wounded overnight in Karbala after security forces opened fire on protesters, according to eye witnesses and media reports.
In total, since the renewal of protests, more than 74 people have been killed.
Iraqis are adamant to continue their protests, which they have labelled a "revolution". They have said that they want all current officials gone, and have continued to take to the streets.
"Neither Sadr nor Amiri" is the feeling and mood of Iraqis on social media. Other Iraqis have been even more anti-Amiri, who fought alongside Iranian forces against Iraqi Army in the eight-year Iraq-Iran war,
claiming, on Telegram channels, that those who fought against Iraqis back in the day won't protect them today.
Iran's supreme leader has also spoken out about the protests spreading across the region, calling for legal reforms and maintained security in Iraq and Lebanon. Speaking at an event at the military academy in Tehran, Khomeini stated the first priority of "those who care about Iraq and Lebanon" is to tackle insecurity, stating that the "just" demands of protesters can only be met within a legal framework.
"The biggest loss enemies can inflict on a country is to undermine its security," Khomeini said. "More than any other, America and the Western intelligence services, with the financial backing of backwards countries in the region, stir unrest," which he labelled as "the worst and most dangerous enmity against a people."
Iran closed its border with Iraq on Wednesday in response to the protests.
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