Shiites In Disarry: Al Sadr To Withdraw From Governing Coalition
Iraq Media:
Baghdad, Sept 15, (VOI) – The Sadrist bloc, led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, will announce today its withdrawal from the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), a Sadrist leading member said on Saturday.
“The Sadr Movement will hold a meeting this evening that will be followed by a Najaf-based press conference to announce its withdrawal from the UIC,” the key member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Last Tuesday the movement threatened to leave the coalition, citing what it called “the inefficiency of the coalition and the dominant influence of some parties on its decisions” as the main reasons behind its withdrawal.
The Sadrist bloc, which has 30 seats in the 275-member parliament, is one of the main components of the Shiite coalition, the largest bloc in parliament with 115 seats.
AFP:
NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) — The movement of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Saturday it would withdraw from the Shiite bloc that leads the Iraqi government
“The Sadr bloc will hold a press conference in Najaf this evening where it will anounce its decision to withdraw from the Shiite alliance,” spokesman Saleh al-Obeidi told AFP from the movement’s headquarters in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Sadr MP Gufran Saad said the movement was quitting the alliance because it was no longer being consulted about key decisions.
“There are reasons for our withdrawal from the Shiite alliance. The alliance has been taking decisions single-handedly without reverting to the member blocs,” Saad said.
The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) initially comprised four key Shiite factions — the Sadr group, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council of Iraq (SIIC), the Dawa party and the Fadhila party — and held 130 of the 275 seats in parliament.
However, the number dropped to 115 when the Fadhila party pulled out in March.
The Sadr bloc has 32 seats in parliament.
Obeidi last week told AFP the bloc was considering withdrawing from the bloc because the SIIC and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa had formed another alliance with two Kurdish groups.
“On the one hand they are taking decisions in the bloc, but on the other hand they are plotting another alliance,” said Obeidi.
The Sadr group has already withdrawn its six ministers from Maliki’s government, saying Baghdad had failed to provide basic services to the people.
On Saturday, Obeidi said the Sadr group was now planning to negotiate with the Fadhila party for a possible “future together.”
When it pulled its MPs out of the main Shiite bloc six months ago, the Fadhila party accused its allies of sectarianism.
The Shiite Islamist group said the division of Iraq’s parties into opposing blocs based on religion had worsened relations between Sunnis and Shiites.
Iraq’s fractious government is made up of ministers from both sides of the sectarian divide but there are frequent rows between Sunni and Shiite leaders and it has difficulty governing.
Maliki has said he will announce a cabinet reshuffle but has so far not been able to fill the vacant seats left by the Sunni and Shiite ministers.
He is currently running the government with only 23 ministers out of an original 40.
In an attempt to shore up his support, Maliki and leaders of his Dawa party on August 27 squeezed out a broadbrush deal with two Kurdish groups and SIIC under mounting pressure from Washington.
The leaders agreed to ease restrictions on former members of Saddam’s Baath party taking up government jobs, to hold provincial elections — a key demand of Washington — and to help the security forces to rein in sectarian unrest.
Sadr MP Saad complained that his group had not been included in the negotiations.
“The Sadrist bloc had no information about the new alliance … they do many things without reverting to the blocs.”
Political analyst Said Abu Rish, author of a number of books on Iraq, believes Maliki’s days as prime minister are numbered.
“Maliki is a dead duck,” Abu Rish told AFP. “The Shiites won’t accept him. He has nothing.”
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Maybe the shitheads are all in a tizzy because some are allied with Iran, some with mookie or Badr and some none of the above. Real Iraqis Shia are fed up with Iranian interference. It is Sistani’s bloc that hold the key to Shia political reconcilliation.
Maliki on the other hand is a empty suit. Whatever the outcome, It is up to the Iraqis to decide their own political futures.
Our Congress is more useless than these losers are. They got no room to talk.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:09 amFuck em all. Some people dont deserve democracy
September 15th, 2007 at 7:11 amWe in the west should not be too concerned when members of parliament or the cabinet for that matter threaten to withdraw or do withdraw. Why? After a few weeks and sometimes months they come back. This is how people in the Middle East negotiate. To us westerners these guys yelling and screaming at each other during negotiations looks crazy. Minutes later they hug and kiss each other upon successful conclusion of the negotiations. They negotiate everything and haggling is just part of their culture. The strongest position in any negotiation is to be able to walk away and mean it.
The Iraqi’s are going to be fine in the long run. Unfortunately those that only care about power use these passionate displays as evidence Iraq will fail/has failed.
The Iraqi parliament has accomplished more this year than our own democratic led congress yet the democrats point to everything that has not been accomplished as a sign of failure. Who do the critical members of congress think they are? What gives them a right to judge others? What gives them the right to hold others to a higher standard then they hold themselves to? If our members of congress were such a shining example of government then all they would have to do is live it. Truth is self evident and needs no explanation or justification. The longer the excuse the bigger the lie; the democrats spend so much time and energy trying to magnify the failures of others to hide their own incompetence. Those that live in glass houses should not throw stones.
The good news is that the democrats can’t do shit to stop us from achieving victory in this war. As long as we continue to maintain the initiative and progress continues like it has been, victory is assured. The party of defeat and surrender can do nothing as they again lose the white house to republicans in 08’ and the majority of congress as well because they have become so heavily invested in defeat and surrender.
These dimwit democrats are completely in denial. Can you imagine how public opinion will turn against them when the American people see a relatively peaceful Iraq a year from now?
I can see the republican ads now “why vote for a candidate who voted to surrender to Al Qaeda and the Muslim extremists?”
Americans will choose safety and security time and time again. Always have always will. America loves a winner and they would much rather have something of value in return for her blood and treasure spent in Iraq. A victory for the US and the Iraqi’s is something we can all be proud of and feel good about.
Just look at how far we have come in the past six months in Iraq and how far we can go in another year! Something to think about, hmmmmmmmm.
September 15th, 2007 at 8:12 amCorey
Nice post. Ditto
September 15th, 2007 at 11:29 amPlus, it’s good if he stays withdrawn and troublesome. Get the rest of the Shia to join the Kurds and Sunnis and fuggedabout him, maybe we can finally take him down.
September 15th, 2007 at 4:02 pmRanger;
September 15th, 2007 at 9:03 pmFrom your keyboard to God’s eyes …