Former militia leader takes a surprise lead in Iraqi election
A RADICAL cleric who led a militia that fought British and American troops in Iraq was yesterday on course to win the country’s election, in a surprise upset for Western-backed incumbent Haider al-abadi.
Moqtada al-sadr’s Sairoon alliance of reformed Shia militants and communists are ahead in eight of Iraq’s 18 provinces and second in four others.
His Mahdi Army waged a brutal insurgency against coalition troops during the 2006-2008 civil war and offered a reward for any British soldiers captured. Mr Sadr has since disavowed violence against fellow Iraqis and in 2008 ordered his forces to become a humanitarian group.
Mr Sadr, 44, rebranded himself as a secular nationalist, campaigning against corruption and for reform, a message which seemed to resonate with Iraqis, tired of entrenched sectarianism and graft in the country. Under the slogan “corruption is terrorism” he has called for better governance and a fairer distribution of resources.
He is also one of few Shia leaders to have kept his distance from neighbouring Iran, which has tried to extend its reach across the region.
A ticket headed by Hadi al-ameri, a former commander of Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), appeared to be in second place. The early results dealt a shock to Mr Abadi, the favourite. The British-educated engineer appeared to be third overall and fifth in Baghdad, which holds the largest number of seats. While the early results were not entirely good news for Washington, it will see some comfort in the fact that staunchly pro-iran parties did not fare better at a time when US relations with Tehran are worsening.
But the complex electoral arithmetic of the Iraqi system means that no party is likely to win more than half the 329 seats needed to form a majority.
There is likely to be weeks of horsetrading as the dominant parties try to form a coalition and agree a new parliament and a new prime minister.
A senior member of Mr Sadr’s party hinted they would not enter into a coalition with Mr Ameri’s Conquest party because of its strong sectarian allegiance. However, it could try to make up the numbers with Mr Abadi or al-qarar, led by Osama Al-najafi, the Sunni vicepresident, which took 18 seats.
Mr Abadi said last night that he was willing to work with any of the winning parties to form a government “free of corruption”.