Baghdad 24 August : The supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have been able to end their day-long protest in the premises of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in Baghdad calling for the dissolution of Parliament.A statement issued by the aide to al-Sadr Mohammed Salih al-Iraqi stated the purpose of the sit-in on Tuesday was intended to “encourage the SJC to hold corrupt officials accountable and to prevent harm to the public We advise protesters to leave” according to Xinhua news agency.
When protesters left their sit-in area as the SJC retreated from the site, the SJC stated in an announcement that they would resume operations on Wednesday in the morning.
On Tuesday, a large number of al-Sadr supporters put up hundreds of tents to launch an anti-government sit-in in the front of the SJC compound.
They also sent threatening messages to the council in an attempt to force the federal court to dissolve Parliament and holding new elections for Parliament.
The dissolution of the SJC led to the caretaker prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to cut short his trip to Egypt for five-way Arab summit.
Al-Kadhimi is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, was returned to Baghdad to direct supervise the security forces who protect the judiciary, as per an announcement from the media department of his office.
“Disrupting the activities of the judiciary exposes the country to serious dangers,” he warned, soliciting an urgent meeting of politicians to start the national dialogue in order to resolve the crisis.
President Barham Salih said in that “the changes in the country require everyone to be calm and prioritize dialogue to ensure that the country doesn’t slide into dangerous and unknowable mazes in which everyone suffers”.
He declared that disrupting the activities of the judiciary “is an issue of serious concern that could be a threat to the country.”
On the other hand the Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said that “we must all rely on the constitution and assume the level of accountability to help get this country out of this suffocating situation that could result in the illegality of the political process”.
The latest sit-in occurred in the midst of political tensions that have increased in the last few days between al-Sadr and rival Shia parties in the Coordination Framework (CF), an umbrella group.
The 30th day of July saw al-Sadr’s supporters took over the fortified and heavily guarded Green Zone in central Baghdad and staged an open sit-in in the Parliament building and outside and demanded the dissolution of the parliament and an early elections, which were all rejected by the CF parties.
The CF became the biggest alliance in Parliament following al-Sadr directed his supporters in the Sadrist Movement, the biggest winner of the elections of October 2021 with the most seats with 73, to leave the Parliament.
In the last few months, the constant disputes between the Shia parties have impeded the formation of an entirely new government.
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