In Iraq, influential leader Moqtada Sadr calls for broader protest

Saturday, for the second time in less than a week, thousands of supporters of Moqtada Sadr invaded the seat of Parliament, in the ultra-secure Green Zone of Baghdad, to protest against a candidate for the post of Prime Minister proposed by their adversaries.

In Iraq, influential leader Moqtada Sadr calls for broader protest

Saturday, for the second time in less than a week, thousands of supporters of Moqtada Sadr invaded the seat of Parliament, in the ultra-secure Green Zone of Baghdad, to protest against a candidate for the post of Prime Minister proposed by their adversaries.

On the second day of the sit-in, the demonstrators occupying Parliament seem determined to stay there, after having taken mattresses and blankets there. On Sunday, volunteers distributed hot meals and swept up piles of garbage in the gardens to load them into vans, according to an AFP correspondent on the spot.

Since the legislative elections of October 2021, Iraq has experienced political paralysis. Months of endless negotiations between the major parties have still not made it possible to elect a new President of the Republic or a new head of government.

The first force in Parliament resulting from the legislative elections, the current of Mr. Sadr finally made his 73 deputies resign in June after having been unable to muster the majority necessary to appoint a Prime Minister.

Speaking on the second day of the sit-in in parliament, Moqtada Sadr, the troublemaker of Iraqi political life, called on Twitter to continue the mobilization.

He hailed a "spontaneous and peaceful revolution that liberated the Green Zone--a first step", seeing it as "an extraordinary opportunity for a fundamental change in the political system".

He called on "everyone, including our tribes, our security forces, and members of Hachd al-Chaabi (former pro-Iran paramilitaries integrated into the regular forces) to support the revolutionaries".

- Instructions to protesters -

At the seat of Parliament, loudspeakers played traditional religious songs on the occasion of Muharram, the lunar month which begins on Sunday and during which the Shiites will mark Ashura, the commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, Grand son of the Prophet Muhammad and central figure of Shiism.

The demonstrators have received instructions from the Sadrist current: they can set up caravans and are called upon to keep the places clean and to take turns to guarantee the continuity of the sit-in. The women have forbidden them to spend the night there.

"I am participating in the sit-in to uproot the corrupt," said Dhorgham Abdallah, a 30-year-old day laborer who traveled five hours from Amarah (southeast) to reach Baghdad.

Claiming "a Sadrist government", he also wants "a dissolution of Parliament", in a country where the ruling class is accused of corruption and incompetence.

It does not matter if officials loyal to Moqtada Sadr also occupy the highest levels in the ministries, his supporters see him as a figure of opposition and herald of the fight against corruption.

"The objective of the sit-in in Parliament is to obtain the formation of a government (...) with honest personalities (...)", launches Oum Hussein, 42, a demonstrator.

The Sadrist Current has launched an intense campaign of pressure against its adversaries, rejecting their candidate for the post of head of government, a 52-year-old former minister, Mohamed Chia al-Soudani, chosen by the "Coordination Framework".

This alliance of pro-Iran Shiite factions includes the formation of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - historical enemy of Mr. Sadr - and representatives of Hachd al-Chaabi, rivals of the Sadrist current.

- "Power of the street" -

After the outburst of the Sadrist demonstrators, calls for dialogue followed one another in Iraq.

Famous for his volte-face, Mr. Sadr is now maintaining pressure on his adversaries even though he had left them the task of forming a government after the resignation of his deputies.

Initially, the Sadrist Current aimed to appoint the Prime Minister and form a "majority" government, notably with its Kurdish and Sunni allies.

From now on "the message that Sadr sends to those involved in forming the government is that he has the power of the street", Renad Mansour, of the Chatham House think tank, recently summed up to AFP.

"He hopes to use this power to thwart his opponents' attempts to form a government."

In response to the assault on Parliament, the European Union called on the political forces "to solve the problems through constructive political dialogue".