While the political scene in Iraq continues to be blocked, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi ruled out the possibility of forming a government without the participation of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.
He stressed that any government that excludes the Sadr movement will face huge challenges and could lead to a repeat of the events of October 2019 or even worse.
Don’t trust politicians
He also stressed that the country needs to distance itself from a past filled with violence,” adding in an interview with Al-Monitor that the political class in Iraq is facing a crisis of public confidence.
As for his priorities, he noted that he was interested in establishing a dialogue between all parties within the country and at the regional level.
These statements came after a “coordinating structure”, which includes political forces close to Iran, showed signs of abandoning its commitment to its candidate for the post of prime minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.
At the same time, the leader of the Sadrist movement previously hinted at his agreement to leave Al-Kazemi at the head of the government in order to monitor the holding of new elections to the country’s legislative bodies.
complete paralysis
Notably, since the early parliamentary elections held on October 10, 2021, Iraq has witnessed complete political paralysis, which has been further exacerbated since July 2022, when the two sides of the most visible dispute took to the streets and their sit-in in central Baghdad ( Al-Sadr and the coordination structure).
The controversy came to a head when, two months ago, the Sadrist movement demanded the dissolution of parliament and early legislative elections to move the country along the path of reform in light of the rejection of this approach by its opponents and their insistence on forming a government with their own candidate before any new elections.
The dispute escalated late last month (August) into violent clashes between the two sides in central Baghdad that left 30 people dead and opened the door to the possibility of a dangerous re-escalation.
