Sadr advisor stands by boycott of Iraqi general elections

"No member of the movement has the right to support, publish or promote any candidate whatsoever."

Photo: Archive
Photo: Archive

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The decision by one of Iraq’s top Shia clerics, Muqtada al-Sadr, to withdraw from the upcoming October election is definitive, an advisor to the political kingmaker said on Friday.

"Al-Sadr's decision not to participate in the 10-10-2021 election is a final, decisive, and irreversible decision," Hassan al-Adhari said in a statement.

The influential cleric announced on July 15 that his political movement had withdrawn from Iraq’s upcoming federal elections, planned for Oct. 10 this year.

Sadr later announced the dissolution of the movement’s office.

Adhari added, "no member of the movement has the right to support, publish or promote any candidate whatsoever."

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission has insisted the election will not be postponed, despite previous delays, and the withdrawal of the Sadrists and other political parties.

Early elections were among the leading demands of anti-government protests in late 2019 that ultimately resulted in former prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi’s resignation. Mustafa al-Kadhimi replaced Abdul Mahdi in May 2020, after months of political jockeying in the legislature.

The Iraqi Council of Ministers voted unanimously during its session held on Jan. 19, to postpone its upcoming election this year from early June to the newly-scheduled date of Oct. 10.