Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr’s aide says the new government to be formed by Mohammad Shia al-Sudani has “clear subordination to militias”.
The movement of Iraqi arsonist leader Moqtada al-Sadr announced its refusal to join a new government to be formed by Prime Minister-elect Mohammad Shia al-Sudani.
Saturday’s announcement came two days after lawmakers elected Abdul Latif Rashid as Iraq’s new president, and he quickly appointed al-Sudani as prime minister to end a year of political deadlock since October 2021 elections.
“We reiterate our firm and clear refusal to allow any of our affiliates to participate in this government formation,” Mohammed Saleh al-Iraqi, a close associate of al-Sadr, said on Twitter.
Former Shia minister al-Sudani, 52, has the backing of al-Sadr’s Iran-backed rival Coordination Framework, which controls 138 of 329 seats in Iraq’s legislature.
In June, al-Sadr ordered the resignation of his bloc’s 73 MPs, leaving parliament in the hands of the framework, which includes representatives of the former paramilitary group Hashd al-Shaabi.
In his statement on Saturday, al-Iraqi claimed the new government has “clear subordination to militias” and is “not doing justice to the aspirations of the people”.
The Sadrist official said the movement refuses to take part in a government led by al-Sudani “or any other candidate among the old faces or those associated with the corrupt.”
“Anyone who joins their services does not represent us… Rather, we deny them,” al-Iraqi said.
Snap elections were held last year after nationwide protests that erupted in October 2019 to denounce endemic corruption, decaying infrastructure and a lack of services and jobs for youth.
The stakes are high for the next cabinet with a whopping $87 billion in oil export revenues piling up in the central bank’s coffers.
The money can help rebuild infrastructure in the war-ravaged country, but it can only be invested after lawmakers approve a state budget presented by the government once formed.
Al-Sudani on Thursday vowed to push through “economic reforms” that would revitalize Iraq’s industry, agriculture and private sector.
The prime minister-elect also pledged to provide young Iraqis with “employment opportunities and housing.”
Al-Sadr, who can mobilize tens of thousands of his supporters with a single tweet, has repeatedly called for snap elections, while the coordination framework wants a new government in office before any elections even take place.
Tensions between the two rival Shia camps escalated on August 29 when more than 30 al-Sadr supporters were killed in clashes with Iran-backed factions and the army in Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to government buildings and diplomatic missions.