Supporters of Iraqi cleric occupy parliament again, demand reforms

Unable to form a government 10 months after elections, Iraq has been rocked by street protests by nationalist cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who s retired from government but seeking influence again.

Video< img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/07/30/world/30iraq-01/30iraq-01-videoSixteenByNine3000.jpg" alt="Video player loading"/>Iraqi supporters of the Shia Imam Moktada al-Sadr toppled concrete barriers and filled the floor of parliament, protesting against efforts by a rival bloc to form a new government. BASRA, Iraq — Iraqi protesters loyal to Shiite nationalist cleric Moktada al-Sadr stormed Baghdad's fortified Green Zone for the second time in a week on Saturday to prevent the formation of a new government. They scaled concrete barriers and pushed security forces to enter the Iraqi parliament, filling the empty seats of representatives and shouting their support for Mr. Sadr: "Son of Mohammed, take us wherever you want." p>

Their decision effectively prevented members of parliament from meeting to form a government, a step the political parties had tentatively scheduled for Saturday.

The occupation of parliament by Mr. Sadr's supporters looked dangerously like a government takeover, not least because as the day wore on some of his supporters briefly moved into the building that houses the judges' offices. On social media, some Iraqi analysts expressed concern that the crowd would target the homes of political opponents of Mr. Sadr.

Earlier this summer, Mr. Sadr asked members of parliament loyal to him to resign after a federal court ruled that two-thirds of parliament must agree on a president and that his coalition could not garner enough votes for a single individual. Mr Sadr thought his rivals would ask him to return, but instead the second largest coalition, which includes Shia groups that had or had armed elements linked to Iran, rushed to fill the slots empty with its own candidates and prepared to form a government.

It is the intra-sectarian nature of the current tension that makes it so dangerous, said Abbas Kadhim, director of the Iraq Initiative for the Atlantic Council.< /p>

"In Iraq, we used to have differences in an interfaith way - Shia Muslims against Sunnis, Arabs against Kurds – but now we are moving to a more dangerous place approach which is really intra-Shia, intra-Kurdish, intra-Sunni rivalries,” he said. is always a fight for the soul of the band itself, for who speaks on behalf of the band,” he added. ute.

Mr. Sadr, who led the main Shiite opposition to the US occupation of Iraq, supported the creation of an armed wing known as the Mahdi Army, which was implicated in targeted killings of US troops as well as in the executions of Iraqis perceived as "traitors". “However, later, Mr. Sadr moved away from this approach and learned to round up the millions of Iraqis who were loyal to him and his clerical family, sending them to the streets when he wanted to exercise. political pressure.

Many of his supporters felt like outsiders and Mr. Sadr stoked those feelings, counting on their passion, loyalty and numbers to force those in power to respond to his demands, or at least consider them.< /p>