Sadrists prepare for political resurgence in Iraq ahead of upcoming elections

Shafaq News / The Sadrist Movement is gearing up politically and popularly to make a solid comeback to the political scene in Iraq and participate vigorously in the upcoming general elections to secure a majority, a prominent leader in the Movement, who requested anonymity, revealed on Wednesday.

The leader stated to Shafaq News Agency, "Muqtada al-Sadr's recent actions towards engaging with his supporters and directing former Sadrist bloc members come as part of the political and popular preparations for the return of the Sadrist Movement to the political scene through the upcoming parliamentary elections, in which it is expected to participate actively and assertively."

"The Movement is well aware that there is no government or political inclination towards holding early parliamentary elections. Therefore, it is currently preparing for the elections expected to take place in mid-next year," the leader emphasized, clarifying that "the Movement will once again work on forming a majority government and will not compromise on this project."

He pointed out that "it is certain that the former allies of the Sadrist Movement, such as the Taqaddum Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), remain the closest to it in forming this government."

Recently, Muqtada al-Sadr outlined a 12-point roadmap for the Movement's leaders, aimed at engaging with grassroots supporters following initiatives that demonstrated their commitment to the "Gaza Relief" directives, which were highly successful from the perspective of the Sadrist Movement and its supporters.

A post on X from the closely associated "Commander's Office" stated, "In line with al-Sadr's directives regarding the necessity of engaging with grassroots supporters, he has ordered communication with them and called for the establishment of complaint lines (excluding governmental and political issues), as well as leading mosques during prayer times."

Al-Sadr's directives included "organizing educational sessions, facilitating the opening of educational courses, and emphasizing the role of youth and the rising generation in societal advancement and integration, exclusively from religious, doctrinal, and social perspectives."

Al-Sadr also emphasized, "considering the economic and political situation of grassroots supporters and not embarrassing those responsible for communicating with them."

The Sadrist Movement withdrew from the political process on August 29, 2022, after its leader decided to withdraw his deputies from parliament (76 seats out of 329) and then announced his retirement from political work, following a series of events that began with demonstrations by his supporters and ended with clashes inside the Green Zone in Baghdad with armed factions. This allowed the "Coordination Framework (all other Shiite parties)" alliance the opportunity to form the largest parliamentary bloc and subsequently form the government.

Meanwhile, the replacements for the resigned Sadrist deputies are distributed among various components of the Coordination Framework, increasing their proportion in parliament and making them the largest parliamentary bloc, which nominated the current Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.