What are the implications of the pressure of the chest movement on the judiciary? How did the opponents respond?

BAGHDAD -

A new front opened before the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, after the capital, Baghdad, woke up on Tuesday morning to a sit-in by his supporters in front of the Supreme Judicial Council, which prompted the latter to suspend its work.

The Sadrist movement towards the Judicial Council came after the judiciary denied the possibility of implementing the most prominent demands of al-Sadr related to the dissolution of Parliament, before the deadline that al-Sadr set for him expired until the end of last week, and this coincided with the issuance of 7 arrest warrants against leaders in the movement - most notably Sabah al-Saadi - on charges of threatening judiciary and others.

A sit-in for al-Sadr supporters in the southern city of Nasiriyah (French)

Withdraw and escalate again

Hours after the sit-in, al-Sadr - through his "virtual minister" Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi - advised his supporters to withdraw and keep the tents, so that the judiciary resumed its work.

However, Al-Sadr’s Minister returned and renewed the escalation today, Wednesday, in a 16-point statement, in which he indicated that those he called “revolutionaries” would take another surprising step, in reference to the sit-in in front of the Judicial Council that was carried out yesterday, Tuesday, if the people decided to continue the revolution, and that most of what The movement's opponents were bothered by the demand for the resignation of the head of the Judicial Council, Faiq Zeidan, who is considered the main supporter of the coordination framework.

The minister said that the coordinating framework is the only protective judiciary, and the continuation of the sit-in means that they will not be able to form a government, adding that the fall of the current regime does not please some, especially the US embassy.

Noting that the majority is unanimously agreed that corruption has struck the judicial institution for 20 years, and he expected the judiciary to try to uncover some corruption files "to avoid another sit-in," according to his opinion.

The hypothetical minister said, "The horns of power rose against the revolution when we protested before the Judicial Council for fear of exposing their corruption files," noting that the suspension of the judiciary's work was not constitutional, and that the judiciary was "trying to remove suspicions from it illegally."

How did Al-Sadr's opponents respond?

Following the recent escalation, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi cut off his participation in the five-year summit between Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Bahrain, held in Egypt, and returned to Baghdad to follow up on the developments of the crisis, and warned that disrupting the work of the judicial institution “exposes the country to real dangers.”

Al-Sadr's traditional opponents took advantage of his escalation against the judiciary to strengthen their front against him, as the "state of law coalition" - during a meeting of his bloc with al-Maliki - issued a warning to the Sadrist movement against the background of the escalation against the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, and said that the judiciary is facing a sinful attack and a similar transgression to what The legislative authority was subjected to it, as part of a series of systematic attacks on state institutions and their prestige.

And what happened yesterday, described by the leader in the coordination framework, MP Muhammad Al-Sihoud, as a “great transgression” of the democratic system and the political process.

He says, in support of the judiciary, that the decisions he took are very important and that he preserved the political process and the democratic system, while denying that he stands by one party at the expense of another;

In reference to the speech of the Minister of Al-Sadr, who accused Zaidan of being the main supporter of the framework.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Chihod acknowledges that the recent escalation against the judiciary has greatly affected the nature of the dialogue between the coordination framework and the Sadrist movement, and it is now completely suspended, criticizing what he called "dialogues of tweets and the media", in reference to Sadr's tweets, "which will not work and cannot be The political process continues in the manner of tweets, but the dialogues must be direct," he said.

Political analyst Muhammad Nanaa says that the positions of the head of the Judicial Council embarrass al-Sadr and support his opponents (Al-Jazeera)

Is the judiciary involved itself in crises?

In line with al-Sadr’s accusations to the head of the Supreme Judicial Council of supporting the coordination framework;

Several questions were raised about the reasons for his participation in the recent meetings of political forces.

Political analyst Muhammad Nanaa believes that the movements and positions of the Speaker of the Council "always serve the interest of the coordination framework", and his assertion in more than one situation and occasion that dissolving Parliament and going to early elections is difficult and not possible under the current circumstances.

It is these positions and moves embarrass Al-Sadr and line up with his opponents.

Nanaa added that Zaidan’s path culminated in his attendance at the political leaders’ sessions, but more than that he called on media professionals and political analysts more than once to repeat things that should not be repeated now, “such as the difficulty of dissolving Parliament and that the judiciary is not part of the political problem and that constitutional procedures must take their course in the process of government formation.

Mina told Al-Jazeera Net, "As if he was indifferent to violating the constitutional timings and was satisfied with presenting the coordinating framework his candidate for prime minister as the most numerous bloc, and this was not confirmed legally, politically and parliamentaryly."

And whether the Iraqi judiciary has really involved itself in the political crises, especially the last ones between Al-Sadr and Al-Maliki;

Mina’ replies that the judiciary, through its president, Faiq Zaidan, has involved himself in the political crisis in a negative way, as he preempts the Federal Court by issuing positions within its jurisdiction, as if it prevents its fatwa and opinion in anticipation of its approval of decisions other than the path that he is walking and in harmony with political parties who attend their meetings constantly.

Will Zidane step down?

Political analyst Ziad Al-Arar describes the sit-in yesterday, Tuesday, in front of the parliament, as "a step to urge the judiciary to open the pending files related to corruption and other constitutional matters."

He promised him a message to the political forces that the current continues in its position and is ready to go beyond that to achieve its demands in the reform process.

Al-Arar believes - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that the problem is not in the judiciary, "and it is he who depends on the executive authority in which the defect is," accusing the latter of not providing the full atmosphere for investigations and revealing the circumstances before the Iraqi judiciary.

But he acknowledges that "political pressures are being exerted on the judiciary, and many political forces and parties have talked about this."

Regarding the possibility that the pressures and sit-ins will push the Speaker to resign or step down, Al-Arar rules out this matter, and expects that actual measures will take place from the judiciary, but he confirms that the Sadrist movement will exert more pressure on the Council through the democratic process according to peaceful means to urge it to take the necessary steps related to Fatah. All files.

Analyst Goran Qadir: The sit-in to pressure the judiciary in order to support al-Sadr's demands to dissolve parliament and hold early elections (Al-Jazeera)

The biggest beneficiary

On the other hand, Kurdish political researcher Goran Qadir explains the sit-in of al-Sadr's supporters in front of the council by seeking to pressure the judiciary to take decisions in favor of the current seeking to dissolve parliament and hold early elections in various ways and means.

In the event that the sit-in is renewed and the judiciary suspends its work, Qadir believes in his interview with Al Jazeera Net that the Sadrist movement will benefit from this step.

Attributing the reason to the fact that the judiciary will not perform its function, and thus the current government remains without oversight over its work in conjunction with the absence of parliamentary oversight as well, and this means that the prime minister’s authority is almost absolute, which is what some parties are seeking at the present time.

The Kurdish researcher expects that the Iraqi judiciary will file a legal case against all those who accuse him without legal basis or defame him without tangible evidence, including (Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi), the hypothetical character who spoke on behalf of al-Sadr.

In the event he does not do so, "he will be subject to further defamation and accusations by all, and this reduces his position and weight, and will have an impact and influence on the strength of his judgments and decisions."