Iraqi Shia leader al-Sadr says he will not run in the October | Election Issues

Muqtada al-Sadr is said to be removing aid from the current government and its replacement.

Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr has announced he will not run in the by-elections in Iraq in October, saying he is withdrawing his support from the current and elected government.

One of the most influential people in Iraq, al-Sadr led a political party that won a landslide victory in the 2018 parliamentary election, with 54 seats in a 329-member court.

“Keeping what is left in the country and saving the country … I would like to inform you that I will not take part in the elections,” Al-Sadr said on Thursday.

Speaking to “the people of Iraq”, he said on television: “Don’t sell your country [to the corrupt] at any cost, it is more valuable than anything else. ”

Al-Sadr, a former United States enemy in Iraq and an opponent of Iran’s influence in the country, has millions of followers in Iraq and controls a large military force.

The results of al-Sadr’s announcement were difficult to assess immediately. He has left politics ahead for a number of years at a time, and has been using his power unelected. Even if he is a candidate, those who want to listen to him can participate in the election, which enables him to stay faithful.

The boycott could be a turning point in the run-up to the election of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who called for a preliminary vote in response to the demands of the freedom fighters.

For the past two years, al-Sadr’s political party has come to control the Iraqi government’s weapons. Its members have carried out high-level functions within the Ministry of Interior, Security and Communications.

‘Satan’s plot’

Al-Sadr said he was “withdrawing his hand from those in this and the next state”.

He also said that Iraq was experiencing “satanic schemes to humiliate the country and straighten it out”, led by fears of those who want to change and eradicate corruption.

“If our country is being victimized by injustice and tragedy, its future could be in jeopardy… in accordance with local, state and international law,” he said.

Al-Sadr’s comments escalate as people in the country mourn the loss of at least 90 people killed in a fire that broke out in a coronavirus room at a hospital in southern Iraq.

Officials said more than 100 people were injured in a blaze at al-Hussein Teaching Hospital on Monday night in Nazism, demonstrating the country’s deformed ways after years of war and punishment.

Officials including President Barham Salih blamed this for rampant corruption, mismanagement and negligence.

In April, a similar explosion at the COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad, killing at least 82 and injuring 110.

Outraged by corruption, unemployment and government activity, anti-government protests have been taking place since October 2019.

Opponents want political leaders to leave the country and reform the politics created after the 2003 US-led coup.