ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of supporters of influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad following his call to Friday prayer in a grand display of unity and strength, sending messages to political rivals despite not attending the ceremony in person.
Branded “The Friday of Unity,” the gathering was set to commemorate a tradition of Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, Sadr’s father, who united masses of Shiites in Friday prayer, as a sign of opposing the rule of fallen Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Sadr was not present to address the scores of supporters that attended the ceremony, but tasked Mahmoud al-Jayashi, a local Shiite cleric, with delivering a speech on his behalf.
The leader of the Sadrist Movement directed a message towards his political rivals and their stalled quest in forming a new Iraqi government nine months after the parliamentary elections, “advising” them on the mechanisms needed to form the government.
“They [political rivals] promise that their next government will not be the same as its predecessors, so I say the first step towards Tawbah [repentance] is holding the corrupt accountable, publicly and without hesitation,” read the speech from Sadr.
All 73 Sadrist Movement MPs resigned from the Iraqi parliament in June upon the request of the leader, who stated that his “sacrifice” was aimed at paving the way for political rivals to form a government without him.
Friday’s gathering shows the magnitude of Sadr’s popularity and political influence despite his resignation.
Sadr’s attempts to form a national majority government were obstructed by the rival Coordination Framework, a pro-Iran Shiite parliamentary faction that has called for the formation of a government based on political consensus.
Reiterating the words from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, "what has been tried should not be retried," Sadr stressed that a government with the same politicians as before would lead to tragedies similar to Speicher and Saqlawiyah.
On June 12, 2014, about 1,566 Shiite cadets undergoing training at Camp Speicher in Tikrit were executed by Islamic State group (ISIS) militants, who had initially promised them safe passage.
On June 3, 2016 around 1,300 men and boys were put into buses and trucks by armed men as they were trying to flee from the ISIS in the city of Saqlawiyah in the Fallujah district of Anbar province. The whereabouts of over 600 of them are still unknown.
The Shiite leader also added that the next government must expel the remaining “occupiers” in a diplomatic and parliamentary manner.
“This is the foremost right of the people: to live free, independent, and away from the interventions and arsenal of the occupier,” read the statement from Sadr.
Sadr has previously accused foreign powers, including the United States and Iran, of meddling in Iraq’s affairs and violating its sovereignty.
Sadr also called on dissolving all armed groups that fall outside the authority of the Iraqi armed forces, emphasizing that the Iraqi army and police must be respected and protected from offensives of militias.
Following the conclusion of the ceremony, the Shiite leader took to Twitter to thank God, his followers, and the security forces for this “great victory.”
Sadr wishes his supporters a safe return home despite initial rumors that protests would ensue following the prayer.
