Al-Hanana meeting: Al-Sadr sends a message to the political process in Iraq and prepares for a “surprise” move.
Al-Hanana meeting: Al-Sadr sends a message to the political process in Iraq and prepares for a “surprise” move.
2025-10-04 03:17
Shafaq News – Baghdad / Najaf
A responsible source in the political body of the Shiite National Current (the Sadrist movement) revealed details of a meeting held in the al-Hannanah district of Najaf on Saturday, which brought together the Sadrist bloc that resigned from the Iraqi parliament.
The source told Shafaq News Agency, “The meeting held in Najaf yesterday, which brought together representatives of the Sadrist bloc that resigned from parliament, the bloc’s head, Hassan al-Athari, and a leader in the political body, Ahmed al-Mutairi, carried important messages confirming the steadfastness of the Sadrist position and its refusal to back down from its strategic decision to boycott the current political process.”
He added, “Those present stressed that the situation will remain as it is, and that the choice to stay away from participating in the political process, which the movement considers ‘steeped in corruption,’ will not change, no matter how intense internal or external pressures become.”
The person, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said, “Al-Mutairi conveyed an important message from the leader of the movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, in which he stressed the need for patience and tolerance in the face of expected provocations in the period leading up to and following the elections, including the results they may produce, or the governments, if any, are formed.” He noted that, “Most importantly, al-Sadr will not back down from his position, because it reflects the opinion and guidance of the religious authority, which grants him additional legitimacy.”
A responsible source in the movement’s political bureau revealed that “Al-Sadr is preparing a move that will come as a surprise, but it will not come through escalation or chaos, but rather in a way that serves the interests of Iraq and its people.”
On Friday evening, Shiite National Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr held a meeting at his residence in the Hanana district of central Najaf. The meeting was attended by all MPs who resigned from the Sadrist bloc, as well as former MPs from the Ahrar al-Sadr bloc and the Sairoon coalition.
Ayad al-Muhammadawi, a former Sadrist bloc MP who attended the meeting, stated yesterday that the meeting with al-Sadr had emphasized a set of intellectual and ideological principles that constitute the core of the Sadrist position on the political process in Iraq.
He added, “The boycott (the Sadrists’ boycott of the elections) reflects a principled, ideological stance that transcends narrow political interests and reflects a radical rejection of injustice and tyranny.”
In March, al-Sadr announced his non-participation in the upcoming elections, citing “corruption and corrupt people,” while stating that Iraq was “experiencing its last gasps.”
Last week, Saleh Mohammed al-Iraqi, a close associate of Shiite National Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr, revealed that al-Sadr is demanding comprehensive reform and the replacement of senior officials in power in exchange for ending his boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for November.
In June 2022, al-Sadr decided to withdraw from the political process in Iraq and not participate in any upcoming elections, so as not to associate himself with “corrupt” politicians. This followed his call for the resignation of all 73 of his members of parliament.
The Sadrist bloc received the highest number of votes in the early parliamentary elections held in October 2021, but the movement’s leader’s efforts to form a new federal government failed due to the Shiite Coordination Framework’s opposition to the bloc’s formation. The bloc obtained a fatwa from the Federal Court, which uses the so-called blocking third, to prevent the session to elect a president, paving the way for the appointment of a prime minister.
shafaq.com
