Sadr Warns Neighboring Countries against Interfering in Iraq Elections

Arab World

October 2nd, 5:18am

Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat

Head of the Sadrist movement, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (AFP)

Head of the Sadrist movement, influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stressed on Friday that the upcoming parliamentary elections are an internal Iraqi affair. Neighboring countries and others must not interfere in the elections, “neither by attracting voters or by intimidation, otherwise we will treat them in kind in the future,” he warned in a tweet. He made his declaration a day after Iraq’s highest Shiite religious authority, Ali al-Sistani called for holding the October 10 elections “away from weapons and foreign influence.” Sadr’s echoing of Sistani’s remarks was understood as a reference to Iran. Sadr’s main Shiite rivals, Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Fatah alliance, and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, head of the State of Law coalition, are close allies of Iran. The rivalry between these three figures has intensified eight days before the polls. Political debate has been heated over their electoral pledges, with concerns that the polls will be held on shaky ground due to the tensions and the possible fallout from their results. The Shiite parties are ultimately eying the big prize, which is the position of prime minister. The winner of the elections will have the final say in naming the PM. Observers and the people have expressed concerns that an electoral setback for any of the three main Shiite parties will have a negative impact on the country. Maliki does not boast armed factions that can resort to intimidation should the elections fall short of his expectations, which is why attention has been shifted to Sadr and Ameri, both of whom do. The results of the elections are supposed to be announced the day after they are held. The Sadrists on Thursday announced that should they win the elections, the upcoming government will focus on addressing social, political and services problems. Speaking from his home province of Diyala, Ameri said his coalition, should it emerge victorious, will focus on cooperating with China, an approach that was adopted by former PM Haidar al-Abadi before his government was sacked. Even those such pledges show that the rivals are getting ahead of themselves in detailing the government policy, they reflect the extent of the division between the Shiite parties that have started to measure their influence in Iraq not by the number of parliamentary seats they hold, but in whoever controls the top spot in state: the position of prime minister.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3221636/sadr-warns-neighboring-countries-against-interfering-iraq-elections