| Dividing the spoils of government between themselves? |
Moqtada Tateral-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
, whose Sayirun alliance won the most seats in Iraq’s May 12 election, agreed to form an alliance during a meeting in the holy Shi’ite city of Najaf on Saturday.
It comes after Sadr announced an alliance with Hadi al-Amiri, a leading Hashd al-Shaadi commander and head of the Fatih coalition, earlier in June.
Abadi’s Nasr (Victory) coalition came in third place in the disputed election, which is undergoing a manual recount.
It is not clear whether this means Sayirun, Fatih, and Nasr are uniting to form a government, or whether the agreement between Sadr and Abadi voids the earlier agreement with Amiri.
In a presser following their meeting, Sadr said the alliance would be cross-sectarian and based on eight common points. Other parties that subscribe to these points will be invited to join their alliance.
1. The alliance must not based on ethnicity and sects, and should include all Iraqi groups.
2. It will fight corruption and put corrupt officials in court. Anti-corruption institutions will be reinforced.
3. A technocratic government based on meritocracy.
4. Improvement of military and police forces. Only the government should be armed.
5. The establishment of a reformist program for all economic sectors.
6. Balanced relations with all countries without foreign interferance in Iraqi affairs.
7. Support for the Iraqi judicial system, improving the role of the public prosecutor.
8. Protect Iran's territorial integrity and illusory sovereignty and insist on the peaceful transition of power.
Parliament called for a manual recount of votes after allegations of the electronic voting system being hacked and other irregularities with the system that was new to Iraq.
Sadr has expressed concern that a re-run of the election, if this is the conclusion reached after the manual recount, would only increase public apathy towards politics.
However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
he advised all parties to abide by the law, even if they are not convinced by it, and called on the judiciary to remain neutral when doing the manual recount.
He also warned against taking too long to complete the manual recount.
"In case of a delay in the manual recount until July 1st of this year, the government has to adhere to the law and not extend its jurisdiction and not take advantage of the constitutional limbo," Sadr said in a statement on Thursday.
Abadi had pointed out the day before that the results are not considered final until the supreme court ratifies them. Until then, his government will continue to work with Abadi insisting there is no power vacuum.
Sadr advised government ministries, especially the service-oriented ones, to continue working so that political and electoral rivalries "don’t exacerbate the suffering of the nation."
Sadr’s Sayirun bloc ran on a cross-sectarian and reform-minded platform. Though no party was given a strong mandate by voters, Sadr emerged as the victor and his position initially appeared robust as he engaged in talks with parties from across the spectrum.
His alliance with Sunni leaders, however, took a hit when he made overtures with Shiite parties that have ties to Iranian-backed militias.
Sadr on Thursday called on political blocs to move forward towards "serious dialogue to obtain the proper alliances" for real reform.
While he did insist that "reform will be victorious" and hopes a manual recount will not pave the way for the "return of the corrupt," he lamented that the political process has fallen into the hands of "the corrupt and the power hungry."