Prominent Shia cleric gives Iraqi government and foreign officials an ultimatum

The top Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr issued another ultimatum on Friday to the Iraqi government and foreign delegations in the Green Zone. He accused the government of “failing to reform the security, political and economic situation in the country” and called for it to be replaced by a technocrat administration. The government led by Haidar Al-Abadi was given 45 days to change in a previous statement by Al-Sadr issued on 12 February, reported Anadolu.

In his latest move, Al-Sadr threatened to break into the Green Zone if the ultimatum has ended before the demands are met. “This is a last-minute call,” he said in a televised speech. “All of the political parties, mainly the parliament, have to talk to the people and its representatives in order to remove this nightmare — the government of corruption and the corruption of the government — in order to get a technocrat alternative to be approved freely by the parliament.”

The Al-Sadr bloc holds three ministries in the current government and 34 out of 328 seats in parliament. “All have to surrender to the people’s demands,” Al-Sadr said, “those who are inside or outside the Green Zone. The Iraqi politicians and the foreign delegations, whom we call on either to remain silent or to leave the area.”

He told his followers that their demonstrations are not meant to assault anyone or to remove anyone and to replace him with someone else. “We are not seeking dominance, but seeking to redeem the country from a small group playing with its ability and its food and oppressing it without any true power.”

Al-Sadr had called for the demonstrations to take place, and they were held in Bagdad and nine other governorates with Shia majorities across the country. The demonstrators, who faced strict security measures around the Green Zone, called for the removal of the government and bringing corrupt officials to account.