Iraq: Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr calls for dissolution of parliament
Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, during his televised address, August 3, 2022. © AFP
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The powerful Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr called on Wednesday August 3 for the dissolution of the Iraqi Parliament and the early legislative elections, believing that there was "
no interest
" in dialogue with his opponents, in a context of total political paralysis.
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The televised address of the troublemaker of Iraqi political life, the first since his supporters invaded the seat of Parliament by the thousands on Saturday to install a
sit-in
there , comes at a time when calls for dialogue are multiplying on the political scene.
Tensions have escalated in Iraq after Moqtada Sadr rejected a candidate for prime minister put forward by his adversaries, the pro-Iran Shia factions that form the influential Coordination Framework.
►To listen also: Political crisis in Iraq: "In the spirit of Moqtada Sadr, it is a question of playing the street against the institutions"
“
I am certain that the majority of the population is exasperated by the ruling class in its entirety, including some (politicians) belonging to my current
”, acknowledged the Shiite leader in his speech broadcast Wednesday evening on local television.
From now on, there will be no more former figures, whatever their affiliation
", he assured, proposing "
a peaceful revolutionary democratic process, then early democratic elections after the dissolution of the current Parliament
" .
.
Parliament invaded twice
The Sadrist Current had won the last legislative elections of October 2021 hands down, with 73 elected in the Parliament of 329 deputies.
But in June, Moqtada Sadr had created the surprise by having his deputies resign, having failed with his allies to have a Prime Minister appointed and to form a "
majority
" government.
Nearly ten months of negotiations and political squabbles between the parties have not allowed
Iraq
to appoint a new President of the Republic or a head of government.
Moqtada Sadr launched a campaign of maximum pressure against his adversaries, and demonstrated that he was still capable of mobilizing the crowds to advance his pawns: twice at the end of July, his supporters invaded Parliament, setting up
camp
there since Saturday .
“
The revolutionaries and protesters participating in the
sit-in
must stay and continue their camp until the demands are implemented
,” he insisted.
In an attempt to find a way out of the crisis, Prime Minister Moustafa al-Kazimi, who is handling current affairs, has proposed a "
national dialogue
".
"
Don't believe the rumors that I don't want dialogue
," Moqtada Sadr said on Wednesday.
"We have already tried and experienced dialogue with them, but it has brought nothing to us and to the nation, even ruin and corruption (...) despite their promises", he castigated .
Stay close to Parliament
The Iraqi religious leader is now calling on them to withdraw from the building.
But Moqtada Sadr nevertheless asks them to stay in the green zone, a secure district of the capital, and to continue their movement.
A statement that is a sign that negotiations have begun between the religious leader and his opponents.
But the showdown continues, says Hardy Mede, associate researcher at the European Center for Sociology and Political Science.
For him, “
the situation remains blocked for the moment
”.
The Sadrists evacuated the Parliament, but they will continue their demonstrations.
Hardy Mede, associate researcher at the European Center for Sociology and Political Science
Guilhem Delteil
Marsin Alshamary, a researcher at the Kennedy School of Harvard University in the United States, believes that "
the ultimate goal of Moqtada al Sadr is to become the leader of the Shiites in Iraq
".
“
Before that, everyone in the Shia camp was very busy making sure that the political system existed and was not endangered by the rise of the Islamic State or the threat of Kurdish secession.
Now that this has more or less stabilized, everyone seeks to become as powerful as possible.
And he no longer wants to share the spoils with anyone from the Shiite camp
,” she explains.
For the researcher, this is why he tries to marginalize the other Shiite parties.
"
The other thing is that he absolutely does not want to see Nouri al Maliki become the leader of the Shiite camp, he is his great enemy
”, she specifies.
The UN mission in Iraq on Wednesday called on the ruling class to find "
urgent solutions to the crisis
" through dialogue.
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