Al-Sadr supporters break into parliament to protest against Al-Sudani’s nomination for prime minister

Hundreds of supporters of the Sadrist movement’s leader Muqtada Al-Sadr broke into the parliament headquarters in the Green Zone in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Wednesday, to protest against the Coordination Framework’s candidate for prime minister.

Muqtada al-Sadr is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had previously led during the American military presence in Iraq, the "Mahdi Army." In 2018, he joined his Sadrist political party to the Saairun alliance, which won the highest number of seats in the 2018 and 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections.

The protesters pulled down the walls surrounding the area, passed checkpoints and security barriers, and headed to the headquarters of the Iraqi Parliament.

The demonstrations aimed to protest against the candidate of the Coordination Framework bloc, Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, to head the government.

In a related development, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, called on the protesters in Baghdad to remain peaceful, and to preserve public and private properties.

Al-Kadhimi called on the protesters to follow the instructions of the security forces responsible for their protection, in accordance with the regulations and laws, and to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone, according to a statement issued by the Prime Ministry press office.

Iraq is not able to get out of the political crisis nine months after the early parliamentary elections that took place in October 2021, which came to absorb popular anger following unprecedented protests.