Iraq’s Crisis: Al-Sadr Demands Dissolution of Parliament, Early Elections

By Staff, Agencies 

Iraqi cleric Sayyed Muqtada Al-Sadr has urged his supporters to continue their sit-in inside the national parliament in Baghdad until his demands, which include the dissolution of parliament and early elections, are met.

The remarks, delivered in a televised address from Najaf on Wednesday, could prolong a political deadlock that has kept Iraq without an elected government for nearly 10 months.

Thousands of Al-Sadr’s followers stormed Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, last weekend and took over the empty parliament building staging a sit-in that is continuing.

Al-Sadr supporters have set up an encampment with tents and food stalls surrounding parliament.

The moves were a response to attempts by the Coordination Framework – to form a government with prime ministerial candidates of whom Al-Sadr does not approve.

He said he was ready to “be martyred” for his cause and that he had “no interest” in negotiating with his rivals. 

“Don't believe the rumors that I don't want dialog,” Sadr confirmed, noting that “We have already tried and experienced dialog with them. It has brought nothing to us and to the nation – only ruin and corruption.”

In June, all 73 legislators of the bloc quit their seats in a move seen as an attempt to pressure political rivals into expediting the formation of a government. Intense negotiations between rival factions, mainly the Sadrists and the so-called Coordination Framework, over the past several months have failed to bridge the divide.

“Dissolve parliament and hold early elections,” Al-Sadr said.

Outgoing Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has called for a “national dialogue” in a bid to bring all sides together to talk, and on Wednesday he spoke with President Barham Saleh.

Both men stressed the importance of “guaranteeing security and stability” in the country, according to the official Iraqi News Agency.