Two sit-ins quarrel with the “green” Baghdad

Two sit-ins quarrel with the “green” Baghdad

8-13-2022

Yesterday, Friday, Iraq was shaken by its aggravating division between two noisy streets in the capital, Baghdad, with the leader of the “Sadr movement” Muqtada al-Sadr going away in what he considers a reform project that he is implementing by displaying his public power under the slogans of dissolving parliament, holding early elections and fighting corruption, leading to To insult the legitimacy of the rule in Iraq 19 years after the overthrow of Saddam.
In parallel to the demonstrations by his supporters about two weeks ago in the heavily fortified Green Zone and in other Iraqi provinces, the “coordinating framework” forces launched similar demonstrations in Baghdad and a number of provinces under the slogan “preserving the prestige of the state and supporting legitimacy.”
But al-Sadr, in a tweet, called on supporters of the “coordinating framework” to support the sit-in and demonstration of the “current”‘s followers, calling for the dissolution of parliament, early elections and the fight against corruption.
Al-Sadr said, according to a statement by his office yesterday, Friday, that “according to my understanding, we and the tire community do not disagree on the existence of corruption and its prevalence in the country, and if we disagree with its leaders on this, the reform camp in its demonstrations is also demonstrating for you, the tire fans. Your support for us in order to save the homeland, which has been held captive by occupation, terrorism and corruption.”
He added: “Then, let your demonstrations be a victory for reform, not a victory for the prestige of the state and the governments that came to Iraq without any desired benefit.” He addressed them, saying: “Do you not want your dignity, freedom, security, food, safety and well-being, as we demand?! If you refuse that, then know that when you demonstrated and protested against what you called electoral fraud. We did not try to demonstrate and sit together with you, despite our ability to do so. If you decide to demonstrate in conjunction with the demonstrations of reform… Let your demonstrations be peaceful and preserve civil peace… Iraq is more important than all names.
Al-Sadr continued: “In general. Our hands are extended to you, the fans of the tire, without its leaders, to try to fix what has been corrupted.”
Muhannad al-Moussawi, a preacher and imam of the Green Zone of the Sadrist Movement, warned politicians opposed to the “current” against trying to continue sharing power in Iraq. He said that “the sit-ins went out to draw the features of the next stage for Iraq through a peaceful revolutionary democratic process and then an early democratic electoral process, as the leader of the Sadrist movement said.” He added that “there is no such thing as a retreat in the dictionary of this revolution, and in order to achieve the goals of this revolution, stability is necessary,” pointing out that the opportunity is ripe for change in light of the continuing sit-ins. Al-Moussawi explained that “contemporary Iraq’s history has gone through two stages, two of the harshest. The first, which is one of the toughest, in which the Baath Party exercised a bloody authority, during which Iraq witnessed hunger, deprivation and the suppression of freedoms, and time is not far from the contemporaries of that fateful era. As for the second stage, it is represented by the occupation, power-sharing, and the spread of chaos, corruption and terrorism.”
Al-Moussawi stressed that “the coincidental politicians knew who the Mahdi Army was when they were servants of the forces friendly to them, but these forces and the false false media of those politicians did not benefit them, and the ISIS ideology did not intimidate us.”
Al-Sadr’s opponents responded in the coordinating framework by declaring an open sit-in on a road leading to one of the gates of the Green Zone, after a demonstration that included thousands.
The supporters of the framework concluded their demonstration by “declaring an open sit-in in order to achieve our just demands,” according to a final statement, which are eight demands, the most prominent of which are “accelerating the formation of a national service government with full powers in accordance with constitutional contexts.” The statement also called on “the Speaker of the House of Representatives to end the suspension of work, and to take effective action to vacate the Council and activate its legislative and oversight work.”
In the context of the peaceful clash so far between the two most prominent Shiite forces in Iraq (the Sadrist movement and the coordination framework), the political process in the country stands at a crossroads 19 years after the change of Saddam Hussein’s regime at the hands of American forces, and the holding of five elections, the last of which was called the early elections at the end of the year Past. Despite the varying results of those elections, the Sadrist Movement’s victory in first place with 73 candidates complicated the political scene after the national majority project was proposed through an alliance that brought it together with the Sunnis through the “Sovereignty Alliance” and with the Kurds through the Kurdistan Democratic Party. However, the “coordinating framework” forces that are closest to Iran rejected al-Sadr’s project and were able, along with Kurdish forces (the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and Sunnis (the Alliance of Azm) to obstruct the formation of the majority government through the “blocking third.”
In the context of the dispute, which seemed radical this time between the two parties, al-Sadr’s withdrawal from Parliament and his use of the street card to disrupt his opponents’ project to form a consensual government confused the Iraqi political scene to the extent that many scenarios began to appear with the possibility of the international community’s intervention in bringing about change as long as Iraq did not leave. Wholly of the provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
And in the context of the weekly clash between “the current” and “the framework” and taking to the street every Friday with the aim of testing strength, the caretaker government headed by Mustafa Al-Kazemi continues, and it is a government that lacks powers while the suffering of Iraqis at all levels increases. Al-Kazemi had expressed the day before yesterday, his annoyance with the continuation of the caretaker government, which cannot provide much to people despite the presence of financial abundance due to the high oil prices.

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