During an emergency meeting today, Monday, with security leaders at the Joint Operations Headquarters to discuss recent events and the demonstrators’ entry into government institutions, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi renewed his call for the demonstrators to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone.
Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister asked Sadrist movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr to call on protestors to leave government facilities.
Al-Kazemi confirmed today, Monday, in a statement that the demonstrators’ bypassing of state institutions is a condemned act and outside the legal contexts, calling on Al-Sadr, who has always supported the state and emphasised the importance of its prestige and respect for the security forces, to assist in calling the demonstrators to withdraw from government institutions.
He also stated that the continuation of the political debate to the extent of endangering all state institutions does not serve the Iraqi people’s capabilities, ambitions, future, or territorial integrity.
He reiterated his request for everyone to display caution, urging protestors to leave the Green Zone immediately and follow the instructions of the security personnel in charge of preserving official institutions and people’ lives.
Due to a group of protestors invading the Council of Ministers offices, symbolised by the Governmental Palace, Al-Kazemi had previously instructed the Council of Ministers to postpone its proceedings until further notice.
In turn, the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, emphasised that events urge national forces to rise beyond disagreements.
Saleh stated in a statement, “The tough scenario that is affecting our nation demands everyone to maintain calm, restraint, prevent escalation, and guarantee that the situation does not devolve into unknown and deadly mazes in which everyone will lose.”
He also stated that while peaceful demonstrations and expression of opinion are constitutionally guaranteed rights with adherence to the laws and the preservation of public security, disrupting state institutions is a dangerous matter that puts the country and citizens’ interests in grave danger, urging demonstrators to withdraw from official institutions and allow security forces to carry out their duties. preserving security, order, and public property
The coordinating framework, for its part, stated that it supports the Iraqi state and its institutions, adding that it cannot remain neutral once state institutions have been targeted.
He urged the Sadrist movement to return to the negotiating table and seek common ground in order to prevail over the language of reason and save Iraq from chaos and carnage.
These events happened after Al-Sadr said in a message on his Twitter account today, Monday, that he had decided to retire permanently and had closed all of his movement’s institutions save the shrine, the museum, and the Heritage Authority.
He also intimated that his life would be in danger as a result of his reform endeavour, urging his fans to pray for him in the event that he died or was slain.
It is worth noting that this retirement comes at a sensitive time in the country, especially given the ongoing political crisis since the last parliamentary elections on October 10, 2021, which was exacerbated last July (2022) with the intensification of the dispute between the Sadrist movement and the framework that includes Nuri al-Maliki, the Al-Fateh Alliance, and pro-Iran factions and parties.
Al-Kazemi to Al-Sadr: Please assist us in removing protestors from state institutions.
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