Dhi Qar

- Just as many were surprised by the size of the seats it won in the legislative elections that it ran on last October, the extension movement that emerged from the popular protest arenas returned to the fore again by provoking controversy, after a wave of resignations of prominent leaders in it, which raised big question marks. Concerning the protesters' party and what is happening with it in the first political experience it is going through.

The challenges facing the extension movement, whose founding was announced in January 2021, are significant.

Since it was announced as a political party representing a large proportion of the "Tishreen protesters" and the joining of youth protest leaders from several provinces, the movement faced a campaign of underestimation, but it overcame it and entered the elections, and won nine parliamentary seats out of 329 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

The recent elections were the most difficult thing for the movement, as it does not have support or financial resources like the traditional parties that allocate a large budget, but only have the support of the protesters, and the result was unexpected for the competing political blocs, as they won seats in the governorates of Dhi Qar, Najaf, Diwaniyah and Babil (south of country).

Several days ago, the movement witnessed internal tremors, as a number of its leaders and founders announced their resignations, which raised controversy and fears about the political future of the protest movement and its efforts towards change.

Members of the extension movement during a meeting they gathered (Al-Jazeera Net)

big withdrawal

The main reason that called us to withdraw from the movement is that most of the movement’s deputies (7 out of 9) voted for Muhammad al-Halbousi as Speaker of the House of Representatives in its opening session, and the voting members were not held accountable, led by the movement’s Secretary-General Alaa al-Rikabi and his first deputy, and this is a violation of the internal system And the principles of the movement, as a member of the General Authority for the extension of Muntazer Karim al-Zaidi says in his speech to Al Jazeera Net.

Al-Zaidi adds that there are other internal details related to striking the internal system and not working with it, which also prompted the withdrawal of a number of members, as the withdrawals have so far reached nearly 20 members, including 4 founding leaders.

Among the movement’s principles and basic programmes, as al-Zaidi explains, is not to ally, vote or sit with the parties in power, and voting for al-Halbousi is considered a violation of his being an essential part of the authority in previous sessions, and voting and participation clearly contradict the movement’s principles.

"We went out for change and to preserve the principles that we pledged to in the movement," says al-Zaidi, noting that there was no respect for the movement's principles or the internal system, or even with regard to the dignity of members.

Al-Shabib indicated that the withdrawal from the extension is due to a violation of its principles and principles by its president and other leading members (Al-Jazeera Net)

Hit the principles of movement

Ghassan Al-Shabib, deputy head of the Political Bureau of the Emtada movement, who also submitted his resignation, confirms that the withdrawal is due to a violation of the principles and principles of the movement, which were written with the blood that fell in the protest squares, considering that participation in the election of Al-Halbousi from members of the movement is a very big violation.

Al-Shabib added to Al-Jazeera Net that the representatives of the movement had a session with then-President Mahmoud al-Mashhadani in the house of Representative Sarwa Abdel Wahed, then a session with the Speaker of Parliament before his election, then with the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, and then with the presidential candidate Hoshyar Zebari, and then with the bloc Al-Sadriyya, and these meetings took place without the knowledge of the General Secretariat of the Movement or the Political Bureau, and they are a blow to its constants.

He continued by saying that the head of the bloc and those with him acted unilaterally and hid this information from the movement, considering that this was a violation of the internal system and a neglect of the "blood of the martyrs" who fell in the arenas of protests by participating in the election of a person who was part of the previous authority.

Al-Shabib pointed out that the movement's main program is to distance itself from the traditional political forces involved in quotas, recalling that the masses have been acquainted with that.

He stressed that when confronting the movement's Secretary-General, Alaa al-Rikabi, and those with him who met the leaders of the traditional parties and voted for al-Halbousi, they admitted that, despite that, no punitive measures were taken against them, so he and a number of other members were forced to withdraw from the movement.

Iraqi deputies close to the protesters head to the new parliament by tuktuk (communication sites)

No comment

No clarification or comment was issued by the extension movement, or from its general secretary, regarding the major withdrawals that took place in its senior leadership, which witnessed the withdrawal of its founders, and Al-Rikabi refused to make any statement about what happened in the movement.

However, one of the representatives of the extension movement (preferring not to be named) told Al Jazeera Net that those who withdrew from the movement left because of the structure of the political office and the bringing of new blood, and the lack of merging between two positions, all of this was not achieved for them, so this was the apostasy and the attack.

He pointed out that the movement's member, Alaa Al-Yasiri, ran for the presidency without the movement's knowledge, and the movement refused her candidacy, and this is what happened.

Al-Sahel considered that the gradual transformation needs time to take root and reflect its manifestations within the emerging party organizations (Al-Jazeera Net)

health condition

The political activist Sadiq Al-Sahel considered that the difficult bet for him and other activists is to shift from the arenas of protest to political action, after many years of working to establish the signs of popular rejection of the political process in the country, with the need to accompany and preserve the protest as a means and pillar on which the emerging political forces rely. Of protest, or close and support him.

And he explained to Al Jazeera Net that this can be done through two basic things, namely, the adoption of popular demands to reform the political system, and the establishment of an act different from what was prevalent by the traditional parties, and this is not limited to the establishment of new parties according to those premises, but is based on behavior and action that requires Political positions and evasions to invest what is possible within the political process on the one hand, as well as public disclosure to the public and the extent to which positions are compatible with the popular demands of the protesters on the other hand.

Al-Sahel continues his talk that the recent legislative elections led to the rise of independents and others affiliated with new entities, which means that there is a political awareness of the youth who no longer view only rejection, and despite that, this gradual transformation needs time to take root and reflect its manifestations within the party organizations It is natural for there to be a difference in opinions towards the decisions of the leaders of the new parties by the party organizations themselves, but I do not think that this difference will weaken these parties even if there is a withdrawal or a retreat in a number of their members because it is a state of health screening within the structure of the parties and also constitutes greater pressure on Party leaders oblige them to review and scrutinize their positions.