In a surprising decision, the leader of the Sadrist movement announced, Muqtada al-Sadr, Retire permanently from political work in Iraq.
And he explained in a tweet on his Twitter account today, Monday, that he decided to retire permanently, and closed all institutions of his current, except for the shrine, the museum and the Heritage Authority.
Al-Sadr’s tweet regarding retiring
“If you die or be killed”
He also indicated that all the leaders of the Sadrist movement are now free of their duties, saying, “Everyone is free from me.”
In addition, he hinted that his life might be threatened because of his reform project, calling on his supporters to pray for him in case he died or was killed.
No talk of politics
Immediately, Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi, nicknamed Minister of Sadr, formally closed his account on a number of social networking sites, especially Twitter, where he is followed by more than 800,000 users.
In turn, al-Sadr’s office called in a statement to supporters of the movement not to interfere in political affairs in the name of al-Sadr, announcing the prohibition of speaking in the media and communication platforms, or raising flags, slogans and political chants in the name of the Sadrist movement.
Minister of Al-Sadr
Fans flock
At the same time, dozens of al-Sadr’s supporters flocked to the fortified Green Zone in the capital, Baghdad, amid reports that they might also head to the location of the sit-in of supporters of the coordination framework, al-Sadr’s fiercest opponent.
Meanwhile, the Executive Committee of the Sadrist movement announced the end of its control over the street demonstrations, which opens the Iraqi scene to all possibilities.
It is noteworthy that this step of retirement comes at a sensitive time in the country, especially since the ongoing political crisis since the last parliamentary elections that took place on the tenth of October (2021), exacerbated last July (2022) with the intensification of the dispute between the Sadrist movement and the framework that includes Nuri al-Maliki. Al-Fateh Alliance, and pro-Iran factions and parties.
For a month now, the supporters of the powerful Shiite leader have been camping in the vicinity of the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, while the supporters of the framework gather near the entrance to the Green Zone, seeking to pressure for the implementation of their demands.
While the Sadrist movement is demanding the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of parliamentary elections, its opponents have been insisting for months to form a government and then hold new elections.
