Baghdad: Several hundred supporters of Shia cleric Muktada sadri A sit-in began on Tuesday outside Iraq’s top judicial body, intensifying tensions in a showdown with a rival Shiite coalition.
Acting Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi shortened a visit to Egypt, where he was due to attend a five-nation summit, to return home to oversee developments.
Kadhemi “Called all political parties to remain calm and seize the opportunity of national dialogue to bring the country out of the current crisis,” a statement from his office said.
The standoff between rival Shiite factions has triggered an intense war of words, but so far there has been no violence.
AFP correspondents told that the Sadrists, who have been camping outside parliament for the past three weeks, pitched tents outside the gates of the judicial body’s Baghdad headquarters.
They held placards calling for parliament to be dissolved and new elections, 10 months after an inconclusive vote failed to deliver a majority government.
Even though his political faction has taken part in previous administrations, secured top jobs in government ministries, Sadar himself has managed to stay above the political fray and fight against a corrupt elite by his supporters as an outsider. is dedicated to.
“We want to stamp out corruption,” said Abu Kar al-Alaywi, a Sadr supporter among those who demonstrated on Tuesday.
“The judicial system is being blackmailed or maybe even corrupt.”
On August 10, Sadar supreme judicial council A week to dissolve parliament to end the political deadlock but the council ruled it did not have the authority to do so.
In response to Tuesday’s protest, the council announced it was suspending work until further notice.
A number of police are stationed around the headquarters, which is located outside the high security of Baghdad, opposite the parliament. green area Government and diplomatic premises.
In the so-called coordination framework, Sadar’s opponents, who are staging a sit-in just outside the green zone, want a transitional government before new elections are held.
These include the former paramilitary force of the Tehran-backed Hashed al-Shaabi network and the party of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, a longtime enemy of Sadr.
Last week, the prime minister called for crisis talks with party leaders, but they were boycotted by the Sadrists.
Since the US-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has been governed under a sectarian power-sharing system that reserves premierships for the country’s Shia-majority community.
Sadrists insist that after emerging as the largest bloc in parliament from the 2021 elections, amending the constitution to give it the right to nominate a prime minister, which his opponents vehemently oppose.
The continued failure of rival Shia groups to form a government in a country beset by poor infrastructure and crumbling public services has led to growing public dismay.
Iraqis, used to daily power cuts that lasted for most of the day, still face water shortages as the country grapples with drought.
Despite oil wealth, many Iraqis remain mired in poverty, and about 35 percent of young people are unemployed. United Nations,
Acting Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi shortened a visit to Egypt, where he was due to attend a five-nation summit, to return home to oversee developments.
Kadhemi “Called all political parties to remain calm and seize the opportunity of national dialogue to bring the country out of the current crisis,” a statement from his office said.
The standoff between rival Shiite factions has triggered an intense war of words, but so far there has been no violence.
AFP correspondents told that the Sadrists, who have been camping outside parliament for the past three weeks, pitched tents outside the gates of the judicial body’s Baghdad headquarters.
They held placards calling for parliament to be dissolved and new elections, 10 months after an inconclusive vote failed to deliver a majority government.
Even though his political faction has taken part in previous administrations, secured top jobs in government ministries, Sadar himself has managed to stay above the political fray and fight against a corrupt elite by his supporters as an outsider. is dedicated to.
“We want to stamp out corruption,” said Abu Kar al-Alaywi, a Sadr supporter among those who demonstrated on Tuesday.
“The judicial system is being blackmailed or maybe even corrupt.”
On August 10, Sadar supreme judicial council A week to dissolve parliament to end the political deadlock but the council ruled it did not have the authority to do so.
In response to Tuesday’s protest, the council announced it was suspending work until further notice.
A number of police are stationed around the headquarters, which is located outside the high security of Baghdad, opposite the parliament. green area Government and diplomatic premises.
In the so-called coordination framework, Sadar’s opponents, who are staging a sit-in just outside the green zone, want a transitional government before new elections are held.
These include the former paramilitary force of the Tehran-backed Hashed al-Shaabi network and the party of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, a longtime enemy of Sadr.
Last week, the prime minister called for crisis talks with party leaders, but they were boycotted by the Sadrists.
Since the US-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has been governed under a sectarian power-sharing system that reserves premierships for the country’s Shia-majority community.
Sadrists insist that after emerging as the largest bloc in parliament from the 2021 elections, amending the constitution to give it the right to nominate a prime minister, which his opponents vehemently oppose.
The continued failure of rival Shia groups to form a government in a country beset by poor infrastructure and crumbling public services has led to growing public dismay.
Iraqis, used to daily power cuts that lasted for most of the day, still face water shortages as the country grapples with drought.
Despite oil wealth, many Iraqis remain mired in poverty, and about 35 percent of young people are unemployed. United Nations,