Al-Alawi calls the Shiite community to pledge allegiance to al-Sadr

Shafaq News/ A Shiite veteran politician on Monday called for pledging "allegiance" to Muqtada al-Sadr as a "leader of the Shiite political arena in Iraq".

Former lawmaker, Hasan al-Alawi, told Shafaq News Agency, "for their best interest, the head of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, and the Shiites in general, shall pledge allegiance to the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, as the leader of the Shiite political arena in tandem with the majority and minority principles."

"Al-Sadr enjoys the support of the majority of Shiite voters. Thus, I personally announce my allegiance to him as the sole leader of the Shiites. People are free to choose their allegiance, but they cannot pledge allegiance to a minority," he said in reference to al-Maliki.

The bloc of the firebrand Shiite cleric, already the biggest in the October 10 election, has been mobilizing impetus behind a "National Majority Government", challenging the status quo "consensus governments", the forces of the Shiite Coordination Framework have been lobbying for.

al-Sadr has said he will ally himself with whoever puts Iraq's national interests first. That is an indication that he may exclude some Iran-backed Shiite blocs in favor of parties with cross-sectarian support.

The Sadrist movement, the Sunni al-Siyada alliance, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party joined hands in what became known later as the trilateral alliance.