The Sadrists like the rest of Iraq’s
political parties are all positioning themselves for the April 2013 provincial
elections. Sadr’s followers have been doing so much longer than many. They have
gone back and forth with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for the last two years.
Every few months they criticize his policies, and say that they oppose his
continued rule in Iraq, but then reconcile a little while afterward. The most
recent example of this political game was the Sadr Trend’s termination of its
short-lived boycott of the cabinet.
MP Araji, head of the Sadr bloc in
parliament, announced the end of its boycott of the cabinet (Sotaliraq)
The Sadr movement ended its boycott
in less than a month after it was announced, showing that it was just another act
of political theater. On April 1, 2013, the head of the Sadr bloc in parliament
Bahaa Araji told the press that its ministers would return to the cabinet. He claimed that a special security committee was being formed, and that a
decision would be made on when the postponement of elections in Anbar and
Ninewa would be ended. Beforehand on March 26, Araji said that Maliki had given into the movement’s demands, and a member of the premier’s State of Law
predicted that the Sadrists would be returning to the government soon. Sadr’s followers withdrew their ministers on March 19 to protest the delay in
balloting in Anbar and Ninewa, along with politicizing the judiciary, lack of
reconciling with the protests in Anbar and other provinces, and a series of Al
Qaeda in Iraq attacks. The movement had been increasingly criticizing the premier for his performance beforehand. The short duration of the boycott
and the lack of any concrete results from it, brought into question what the
Sadrists had achieved. That misses the point of the Trend’s strategy. This was
just one of many times in the last two years that the movement has criticized
the prime minister’s reign. Every time though, the Sadrists eventually end
their war of words, and revert back to being Maliki’s main supporters. The goal
is to not actually bring the prime minister down, but rather to differentiate
Sadr’s followers from the prime minister in the larger battle for the support
of the Shiite population. Moqtada al-Sadr is hoping that he can eventually
become the main vote getter, and replace State of Law as the main ruling party.
Iraq’s next elections are just around
the corner, and the Sadrists have been preparing for them for months. They have
tried to make themselves out to be the strongest critics of Prime Minister
Maliki, and the boycott of the cabinet was the latest attempt to do that. The
Trend knows the path to power in Iraq is to win over the Shiite majority, and
their constant jabs at the premier are aimed at that goal. The question now is
whether they have been able to expand their base at all. The answer to that
will be shown in just a few days when Iraqis return to the ballot box for the
provincial vote.
SOURCES
AIN, “Sadrist ministers to
resume attendance at CoM,” 4/1/13
Alsumaria, “Iraq Anbar
candidates file lawsuit to challenge elections postponement,” 3/22/13
National Iraqi News Agency, “Araji:
Absence of Anbar, Niniveh from participation in provincial councils’ elections
unconstitutional,” 3/21/13
- “BREAKING NEWS . Friday
sermon at Kufa calls for Maliki to step down immediately and (Shiite alliance)
to choose alternative,” 3/22/13
- “BREAKING NEWS Sadrist ministers
suspend attending cabinet’s sessions,” 3/19/13
- “MP: Sadrist ministers resume
attending sessions of the Council of Ministers next week,” 3/27/13
Shafaq News, “SLC: Sadrists voted to
postpone elections,” 3/21/13
Wicken, Stephen and Ali, Ahmed, “2013
Iraq Update #12: Maliki and Sadr Raise Electoral Stakes,” Institute for the
Study of War, 3/22/13
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