Iraq
Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather outside the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad’s Green Zone on August 5, 2022. Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Sadrist Movement called for country-wide protests to be held on Friday to demand reform and the dissolution of the Iraqi parliament after leader Muqtada al-Sadr called for its dissolution within ten days.
"Lovers of reform should prepare (to support reform) by gathering in their provinces at 5 pm tomorrow, Friday," read a tweet on Thursday from Salih Mohammed al-Iraqi, a figure who is close to Sadr, adding that the demonstrators "will be rewarded with the best reward."
Sadr on Wednesday called on Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council to dissolve the parliament "by the end of next week" and tasked the Iraqi president with setting early elections. His statement came amid a crippling political deadlock shrouding Iraq's future with uncertainty.
The Sadrist Movement asked its supporters to "fill out the legal forms to be submitted to the judiciary" to demand the dissolution of the parliament and reiterated its calls for the sit-ins inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone to continue.
Thousands of the top cleric's supporters took to the streets in recent days and staged a sit-in at the Iraqi parliament building in opposition to rivals of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework's nominee for prime minister, who they accused of being "corrupt" and having close ties to former PM Nouri al-Maliki. The Sadrist Movement later ordered them to leave the legislative building but continue their activities in its vicinity.
On Sunday, Sadr stated that there were "no alternatives" to the dissolution of parliament as it has become a popular, national, and political demand and has received "positive responses" from Iraq's various components.
Iraq held early elections in October 2021, but has failed to form a government and has been grasped with a suffocating political deadlock, with the country currently experiencing a record ten months without a permanent cabinet.
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