Sadr calls for reforms to support al-Maliki

MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 03:43

Najaf (Iraq): Student Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Sunday for more political reform, and said he would support a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister if it does not implement these reforms.

Sadr, who led uprisings against the U.S. presence before the withdrawal of U.S. forces in December, now an influential role in government after he helped support his bloc of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to stay in office.

He said al-Sadr, told reporters at a news conference at his home is rare in Najaf in southern Iraq, said the reforms, appointed his demand for the main and final.He said and still say that there is a promise from the other clusters as in the case of the arrival of the vote (in favor of a vote of no confidence) to 124 the number of his votes 40 votes will be with them.

Sadr did not specify the type of political reforms they want.Locked in the main Shiite factions, Sunni and Kurdish struggle for influence since the withdrawal of U.S. troops.Maliki's opponents and calls for a vote to withdraw confidence from the Shiite leader, but they have so far failed to rally enough support for this procedure.

If successful, the ballot will be the most serious challenge to the owners during his six-years and is likely to lead to the collapse of the government and the escalation of sectarian tensions in a country not yet fully recovered from years of war.