Political crises and unrest… Where is Iraq going? Experts respond
Following the announcement of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, to withdraw from political life, Iraqi media reported that a number of Sadrist demonstrators stormed the Republican Palace in the Green Zone in central Baghdad. In conjunction with the storming of the palace, Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, directed the Council of Ministers to suspend its sessions.
International reactions
The American State Department stressed that what is happening in Iraq raises concern and puts Iraq’s sovereignty at risk, noting that demonstrations are a right, “but Iraqi property must be protected.” Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, stressed his follow-up with more concern to the successive and dangerous developments on the Iraqi scene. Aboul Gheit called on the Iraqi parties to put the national interest above any other considerations in order to overcome the current situation, which represents a danger to the country’s stability.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all political forces in Iraq to take immediate steps to calm the situation and avoid any violence in Iraq. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said: I follow with interest the current situation in Iraq and am saddened by the current developments in that brotherly country. Al-Sisi stressed Egypt’s full support for the security, stability and safety of Iraq and its people, and called on Iraqi parties to put their country’s higher interests above political crisis through dialog.
Not a surprise
Iraqi political analyst Lina Mazloum said: The current escalation and turmoil in Iraq is not a surprising result, especially after the sit-in of Muqtada Al-Sadr’s supporters, clarifying that the issue was previously an Iraqi political project, but it turned into a formula that each party wants to go against the other, and the issue emerged from a political project to blocs.
Mazloum added that the Iraqi people do not want those political elites whose allegiances are directed outside Iraq’s borders. She explained that Muqtada Al-Sadr confirmed that neither affiliation nor corruption and the abolition of militias were achieved, explaining that the people who fired the bullets were the Popular Mobilization Forces, while the supporters of the Sadrist movement were peaceful.
Foggy scene
Iraqi writer and political analyst Abdul Kareem al-Wazzan said: The Sadrist Movement has the Peace Companies, an armed faction whose forces may number more than 100,000 fighters. There are forces close to the coordination framework, supported by regional parties, and that have fighters who may match the official security forces.
The Iraqi political analyst added that the Iraqi scene is in a state of turmoil, especially after the passage of about a year after the general elections, and the country is still in the throes of political blockage. This confirms that the supporters of the Sadrist movement are going to make wide moves to escalate the street in order for Al-Sadr to withdraw from the decision of political isolation.
