Al-Sadr arrives in Baghdad
Shafaq News / An informed political source said that the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, arrived on Wednesday evening to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, to discuss with the political forces to form the next government.
The source told Shafaq News Agency, “Al-Sadr arrived in Baghdad to hold dialogues with a number of political forces, including the coordination framework on forming the new government.”
The visit comes hours after the issuance of a statement by the coordination framework in which it warned against the policy of exclusion of political forces from participating in the next government, hinting that this matter might push him to go to the opposition or boycott.
Al-Sadr, whose list topped the elections, had said in a televised statement, yesterday, Tuesday, that he offered the Coordinating Framework Forces to enter into a national majority government on the condition that the leader of the State of Law coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, did not participate, but they refused.
Al-Sadr blames Al-Maliki, who headed the government for two consecutive terms (2006-2014), for rampant corruption and acts of violence in the country, in addition to the ISIS invasion of a third of Iraq in the summer of 2014.
The Sadrist bloc topped the October 10 elections, with 73 seats, followed by the Progress Alliance with 37, the State of Law coalition with 33, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party with 31.
Al-Sadr seeks to form a national majority government, unlike the rest of the coordinating framework forces, which demand a consensual government in which all political forces in Parliament participate, similar to previous sessions.