If judiciary does not side with people's will, Sadrists to respond accordingly: Representative

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The followers of the powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr are going to respond accordingly to any situation if the judiciary does not side with the public, the opposition leader's representative told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday. 

The remarks came following Al-Sadr's tweet on Wednesday in which he asked the judiciary to dissolve the parliament and hold early elections by no later than "the end of next week".

Since the parliament missed the constitutional deadlines for electing the President of the Republic and forming a government, the parliament shall be dissolved by the "competent judicial authorities," he reasoned. 

"If the judiciary does not side with the public, we will respond accordingly to any circumstances," Ibrahim Al-Jabry, the representative of Al-Sadr, told Kurdistan 24 among Sadrist demonstrators inside Iraq's parliament. 

The legislature has been occupied by the cleric's supporters for more than 10 days, demanding its dissolution. 

"We know the [judiciary] is under the pressure of the corrupt political parties," Al-Jabry added. 

The Sadrist demonstrations erupted after the Shiite Coordination Framework, which is a political grouping comprised mostly of pro-Iran parties, announced their nominee for the position of the premiership. 

Al-Sadr's long-standing foe, the former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, heads the Framework, which fiercely opposed the formation of the government by the cleric and his allies. 

Iraq is in a deep political deadlock after its political parties have not yet been able to form a government more than nine months after the October elections.