Protesters in Iraq continued their sit-in in Parliament on Monday.
Followers of Shiite cleric and Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr have vowed to organize an open sit-in to thwart efforts by their Iranian-backed Shiite opponents to form the country’s next government. Their demands include early elections, constitutional amendments and the dismissal of Sadr’s opponents.
The sit-in was smaller than Saturday, when protesters used ropes and chains to tear down concrete walls around Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone and then stormed into the parliament building. This is the second such gap after what happened last week, but this time they did not part amicably.
These events spearheaded the Iraqi political scene, plunging the country into a deeper political crisis with the start of a power struggle between the two main Shia factions.
Al-Sadr has great influence in the state, where his supporters hold many posts. In the past few years, he has upheld his reputation as an Iraqi patriot by speaking out against the influence of both the United States and Iran.
His Shiite adversaries form an alliance called the Coordination Framework, which includes politicians linked to Tehran, such as former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and paramilitary groups armed and trained by Iran. Many of these groups’ ties to Tehran date back to the Iran-Iraq war, when Iran supported Shiite rebels against Saddam. The parties exchange accusations of corruption.
Al-Sadr has promised peaceful political action, but he is backed by armed Peace Brigades and many of his civilian supporters hold guns, raising fears of armed clashes if the confrontation escalates. A split among Iraqi Shiites would upset Iran, which has had significant influence in Iraq through its Shiite allies ever since the United States toppled rival Saddam. Iran, which has yet to comment on the latest developments, intervened earlier to calm internal unrest in Iraq.
