PM Kadhimi claims some regional states attempting to subvert Iraqi democracy

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi claimed on Saturday that some regional states are attempting to subvert Iraq’s democratic process.

Kadhimi’s statement came during a speech he delivered at an annual event commemorating Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the former head of the influential Supreme Council for Revolution in Iraq party.

“I call on everyone to put the state and people’s interest before any other interests, for the sake of building a better future for Iraq,” the premier said, without specifically referring to any country that is trying to undermine Iraq.

Highlighting Iraq’s ethnic diversity, Kadhimi called for strengthening coexistence among all Iraqis, “without discriminating on the basis of religion or difference of opinion.”

Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim was a senior Iraqi Shiite Islamic Scholar. In the late 20th century, the ruling Baathist regime considered him a dangerous figure because the Shiite majority held him in high regard.

In 1980, Hakim fled to Iran, where he became an open enemy of the Saddam Hussein government, forming the SCIRI, a political party aiming to overthrow Saddam’s dictatorship and installing clerical rule.

Hakim returned to Iraq in mid-2003, after the US toppled the Baathist regime. He was killed on Aug. 29, 2003, along with 84 others in a bombing attack as he left the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf during the insurgency that followed Operation Iraqi Freedom.