Political crisis in Iraq | Pro-Sadr protesters occupy parliament

(Baghdad) For the second time this week, thousands of supporters of the influential Shiite political leader Moqtada Sadr invaded the Iraqi Parliament on Saturday, which they intend to occupy until further notice, after another day of demonstrations in a country in full political crisis.

Waving Iraqi flags, portraits of Moqtada Sadr and flags with religious insignia, thousands of demonstrators crowded the entrance hall of Parliament before entering the hemicycle, waving victory signs and taking selfies in a good-natured atmosphere, reported AFP journalists on the spot.

The political deadlock is total in Iraq, which awaits the appointment of a new president and a prime minister, 10 months after the October 2021 legislative elections. Kingmaker and troublemaker on the political scene, Moqtada Sadr has launched a campaign of maximum pressure against his adversaries, rejecting their candidate for the post of head of government.

On Wednesday protesters had briefly occupied Parliament, and on Saturday they announced “a sit in (which will last) until further notice”, according to a brief statement from the Sadrist movement.

Lying on the carpet in the hallways, leaning against the pillars, some demonstrators were killing time on their laptops, others were fanning themselves with cardboard boxes or had taken off their shirts, according to an AFP journalist.

On Saturday morning, several thousand demonstrators gathered in front of a bridge in Baghdad scaled concrete blocks erected to block the way, finally managing to enter the green zone, despite security forces firing tear gas and water cannons which were activated, AFP noted.

“Corrupt and incompetent government”

The demonstrators reject the candidacy for the post of Prime Minister of Mohamed Chia al-Soudani, considered close to the former head of government Nouri al-Maliki, historical enemy of Mr. Sadr.

In the gardens of Parliament, Sattar al-Aliawi, 47, said he was demonstrating against “a corrupt and incapable government” which he said would be formed by opponents of Mr. Sadr.

“We don’t want Mr. Soudani,” insists this official. “The people totally refuse the parties that have governed the country for 18 years,” he says. “We will hold a sit in under the dome of Parliament, we are going to sleep here”.

A 52-year-old former minister and former provincial governor, Mr. Soudani is the candidate for the “Coordination Framework”, an alliance of pro-Iran Shiite factions bringing together the party of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and representatives of the Hachd al-Chaabi, former paramilitaries integrated into the regular forces.

If he decided today to maintain the pressure on his adversaries, Mr. Sadr had nevertheless left them the task of forming a government, causing his 73 deputies to resign in June: they represented the first force within the Parliament of 329 deputies. .

In a statement on Saturday, the Coordination Framework castigated “attacks on constitutional institutions” after the incursions into Parliament.

In turn, the coalition called on “the popular masses […] to demonstrate peacefully in defense of the state and its legitimacy”.

“Political escalation”

“Continuing the political escalation increases tensions in the street”, regretted in a press release the current Prime Minister, Moustafa al-Kazimi.

In total, at least 100 demonstrators and 25 members of the security forces were injured on Saturday on the sidelines of the demonstrations, according to the Ministry of Health.

“We are here for a reform revolution […] to make the people victorious and Sayyed Moqtada Sadr the leader,” said a protester Haydar al-Lami in central Baghdad on Saturday.

“We don’t want the corrupt, and we don’t want to try those we have already seen” in power, he said, interviewed by AFP. “They don’t bring us anything, since 2003 until now they are the same, they have harmed us”.

During the night from Friday to Saturday, Sadr’s supporters ransacked the offices of Mr. Maliki’s Daawa party in Baghdad, as well as the premises of the Hikma Current, the party of politician Ammar al-Hakim, which is part of the Coordination Framework , according to a security source.