Iraq’s Ammar al-Hakim had a speech this Saturday, reacting to the latest provocative moves in the country sparked by the followers of Moqtada al-Sadr.
The leader of the National Wisdom Movement of Iraq, Syed Ammar Hakim, rebuked the Sadrists this Saturday at the end of his speech at the “Islamic Day of Combating Violence Against Women” ceremony in Iraq.
Al-Hakim said to the Sadrists that “we were the first to support the national majority project with its required conditions, including preserving the position of the largest social component,” also stressing that “we still believe with the brothers in the coordinating framework in the importance of the Sadrist movement’s presence and effectiveness in decision-making centers and work in state institutions not only according to their electoral merit, but because there are benevolent and patriotic energies in this current.”
The leader of the National Wisdom Movement of Iraq also emphasized on the fact that going to early elections is not an easy process and will require parliamentary and legal preparations and discussions, but it is a practical, safe and acceptable path for all partners; “Early elections are an option that can be discussed, understood and implemented after forming the new government, amending the election law and ensuring the integrity of the performance of the High Commission.” Al-Hakim noted.
In the end, Al-Hakim called on all parties to exercise the highest levels of political, popular and media restraint and to allow reason, logic and understanding to prevail.
Sadrists on the path of turmoil in Iraq
Al-Hakim’s remarks came as a reaction to the latest moves by the Sadrists. Last week, an Iraqi court issued an arrest warrant against a leader in the Sadrist Movement on charges relating to threatening the judiciary.
Al-Saedi, who is a prominent leader in the Sadrist Movement, published tweets last week in which he criticized the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, claiming that it “deals with the rebellious people and parties of corruption in the same way.”
The court had started the procedures of collecting evidence on what it described as a crime of threatening the Federal Court. A day before, the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq had to suspend its operations and those of the Federal Court in protest against the Sadrists’ move who gathered in thousands outside the Court’s headquarters.
The escalation follows weeks of protests by Sadr’s supporters, who have occupied the parliament building since 30 July and insist on fresh elections. Sadr warned last week that the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq must heed his call, saying his supporters would continue their sit-in at the parliament until then, and warning that the protesters would “adopt a different position” if the court failed to dissolve the legislative body.
The judiciary “must dissolve parliament by the end of next week… if not, the revolutionaries will take another stance,” Sadr said in a statement on his Twitter account, without elaborating.
Sadr’s political bloc emerged as the biggest parliamentary faction in the election but fell short of an absolute majority needed to form a government, prompting the current political deadlock. 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.
Sadr’s followers stormed the parliament late last month as the rival parliamentary faction known as the Coordination Framework attempted to form a government led by Muhammad Shia Sudani. a figure close to former premier Nouri al-Maliki.
