صراط عشق صراط عشق
Hundreds of followers of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were camped out Sunday inside the Iraqi parliament, after toppling security walls around the building and storming in the previous day.
The protesters pledged to hold an open-ended sit-in to derail efforts by other Iraqi political groups to form the country’s next government.
The developments have catapulted Iraq’s politics to center stage, plunging the country deeper into a political crisis.
On Sunday, the sit-in appeared more of a joyous celebration than a political protest — Sadr followers were dancing and chanting slogans inside the parliament, in praise of their leader.
In between, they took naps on mattresses lining the grand halls.
It was a scene starkly different from the one on Saturday, when the unruly protesters used ropes and chains to topple cement walls around the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, then flooded into the assembly building. It was the second such breach last week, but this time they did not disperse peacefully.
Iraqi security forces fired tear gas and sun grenades at first, to try to repel the demonstrators. The Ministry of Health said about 125 people were injured in the violence — 100 protesters and 25 members of the security forces. Within a few hours, the police backed off, leaving the parliament to the protesters.
Outside the building, garbage from food packages and other trash littered the street leading up to the parliament gate while trucks bused in giant cauldrons of steaming rice and beans to feed the protesters.
There was also humor inside the parliament Sunday among al-Sadr’s followers.
One protester, Haidar Jameel assumed the seat of Parliament Speaker Muhammad Halbousi — among the most powerful political figures in Iraq — and from it, looked on at his rowdy fellow protesters in the assembly.
After al-Sadr’s followers took over the parliament, Halbousi suspended future sessions until further notice.
“This is an open-ended sit-in, we will not return until our demands are met,” he declared.
Boxes of bottled water were piled up on the street and tents were erected. A small child handed out sweets, teenagers sold juice from sacks.
The takeover of the parliament showed al-Sadr is using street protests to signal that his views must be taken into account in any government formation.
Neither side appears willing to concede and al-Sadr seems intent on derailing government formation efforts.
Both the United Nations and European Union warned about escalating tensions.
The immediate trigger for the occupation was the decision by the Coordination Framework alliance of Iraqi parties to pick former cabinet minister Muhammad al-Sudani for the prime minister’s post.
Sadr’s bloc emerged from elections in October as the biggest parliamentary faction, but still far short of a majority.
In June, his 73 lawmakers quit in a bid to break a logjam over the establishment of a new government.
That led to the Coordination Framework becoming the largest in parliament, but still there was no agreement on naming a new prime minister, president or cabinet.
The occupation that began on Saturday was the second time within a week that Sadr’s supporters had forced their way into the legislative chamber. They left on Sadr’s orders last Wednesday after about two hours inside.
The protests are the latest
challenge for a country trying to overcome decades of war and now facing the impact of climate change.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged Iraq’s political blocs “to sit down, negotiate and reach an agreement,” to resolve outstanding issues and avoid bloodshed.
“A thousand days of quiet dialogue is better than a moment in which a drop of Iraqi blood is shed,” Kadhimi was quoted as saying by INA.
“I call on everyone to be calm, patient, and rational, and not to be drawn into confrontation, and I call on citizens not to clash with the security forces and to respect state institutions. We must all cooperate to stop those who accelerate this sedition, and everyone must know very well that the fire of sedition will burn everyone,” he added.
Hadi al-Ameri, the head of the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance in the parliament, urged Iraq’s political parties and people to be vigilant against sedition and the possibility of bloodshed, also calling for restraint to resolve the issue through dialogue.
“I invite all dear brothers and partners of the country in the Coordination Framework and the Sadr movement, and all those who care about the lives of Iraq and Iraqis to adopt the principles of calmness, restraint, and prudence, and choose a method of constructive dialogue and understanding to overcome any differences that can be resolved quietly and away from their emotions,” Ameri said in a statement.
Ammar Hakim, head of the National Wisdom Movement, said, “The critical Iraqi situation that the internal arena is going through today requires everyone to give precedence to the language of reason, logic, dialogue, and concession to Iraq and its people.”
“We urge each party, through its rhetoric and its public bases, to exercise restraint and show the utmost wisdom in order to prevent the irreplaceable loss of the homeland.”
