On December 11 Moqtada al-Sadr announced that he was withdrawing from the public. This was after some of his militiamen tore down posters of Hassan Nasrallah, Abu Muhandis and General Qasim Soleimani in Baghdad and got arrested as a result. Sadr claimed his followers were not following his instructions.
This was the latest example of Sadr voicing his discontent. In October he said he was expelling some followers who fired an RPG at an imam’s house in Najaf after he criticized Sadr. In September he kicked out more members for attacking Baghdad Airport. Back in September 2023 he froze his movement after some made a video on social media about the missing Mahdi. Most importantly at the end of 2022 he pulled out of politics after he failed to form a new government. According to Sadr he has little control over his members and failed at politics.
Divisions and unruliness have been a major characteristics of the Sadrists. While Sadr is the head of the only mass movement in the country he has many clerics and militia commanders under him with their own agendas. His tendency to make impulsive decisions has also angered them such as when he joined the 2019 protest movement only to help crush it. That has led to more splits. This is the reason why he constantly says he is retiring so that he can try to regain control. The nature of his leadership however means he will never succeed.
SOURCES
Al Mada, “Al-Sadr expels armed supporters … and today Parliament chooses its speaker,” 10/31/24
- “Al-Sadr withdraws from people: They are still being carried away by the West’s schemes,” 12/11/24
Mansour, Dr Renad, Robin-D’Cruz, Benedit, “The Sadrist movement in Iraq, Between protest and power politics” Chatham House, 10/28/22
NINA, “Al-Sadr directs Saraya al-Salam to expel “members of the insolent militia,”” 9/13/24
Al Rafidain, “Sadr's Office: Muqtada al-Sadr has decided to retire from public life in protest against the actions of some of his followers,” 12/11/24
Reuters, “Analysis: Iraq’s Muqtada al-Sadr risks isolation with political retreat,” 12/29/22
No comments:
Post a Comment