The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, described the popular protests in the Green Zone in Baghdad as a “spontaneous revolution”, referring to what he called a “golden opportunity” to stand up to “corruption, injustice, terrorism, occupation and dependency.”
In a tweet, Al-Sadr expressed his hope not to miss the opportunity “to bring regarding a fundamental change in the political system, the constitution and the elections,” calling on the demonstrators to continue protesting to achieve “reform, democracy, political independence, and confining arms to a strong state capable of imposing itself by force of law.”
He wrote: “You are all responsible and all of you are at stake. Either an Iraq that stands tall among nations or a vassal Iraq controlled by the corrupt, vassal and those with worldly ambitions, and even moved by the hands of the outside, east and west, and then there is no choice but to pray and cry for the end of Iraq, which is near.”
Al-Sadr called on tribal sheikhs, members of the security forces and the Popular Mobilization to support the protesters for change in the country.
Ibrahim al-Jabri, director of Muqtada al-Sadr’s office, had confirmed that the sit-in in the Iraqi parliament is “open and continuous, and there is no withdrawal from parliament except by eliminating and excluding the corrupt.”
He added, in an exclusive statement to Al-Hurra, that the sit-in in the House of Representatives “do not represent the Sadrist movement only, but all Iraqis,” and said: “They represent the various segments and categories of the people.”
He pointed out that the most prominent demand of the protesters is to “eliminate the corrupt and get rid of them.”
The “open sit-in” continues Supporters of the Sadrist movement, on Sunday, inside the parliament building, for the second day in a row, following the demonstrators took control of the seat of the legislative authority.