In about-face, al-Sadr moves closer to Iran

BAGHDAD: Muqtada al-Sadr, the maverick Shia cleric who emerged as the main winner in Iraq’s parliamentary elections last month, campaigned on a platform to end sectarian politics and replace it with a government that puts Iraqis first.

Instead, he has forged a post-election coalition with a rival Shia bloc that includes some of the most powerful militias operating in Iraq — groups that get their funding and support from Tehran.

The deal underscores the active role Iran is taking in shaping the next government of Iraq, sending key military and spiritual advisers to revive a grand coalition of Shia parties as a conduit for its influence in Baghdad. It also illustrates how Iran has gained sway over Mr Al-Sadr, who once called for booting foreign influence from Iraq.

Two Shia politicians with inside knowledge of the party talks said that the new coalition between Mr Al-Sadr’s Sa’eroun bloc and Hadi al-Amiri’s Fatah bloc came on the heels of intensive Iranian lobbying, including visits by the influential Gen Qassem Soleimani and the son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who met with Mr Al-Sadr earlier this month. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

For Iraqi voters, after delivering what was supposed to be a pivotal election result that looked beyond religious affiliation, the coalition means a dispiriting return to business as usual.

“This coalition is a product of Iran’s desire to influence internal forces in Iraq,’’ said Wathiq al-Hashimi of the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies. “But besides the Shia National Alliance, there will be a Sunni alliance and a Kurdish alliance, and a return of sectarianism among all the armed blocs and factions... This is the most dangerous thing in Iraq right now’’.

With no single party winning the majority of seats, the various blocs need to form coalition in order to name a new government.

On Saturday, Mr Al-Sadr struck a separate deal with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, another Shia leader, whose bloc came third in the election. Mr Al-Abadi had campaigned on a cross-sectarian platform and included Sunni politicians in his bloc. But the bulk of the winning candidates on his list were Shia, and Mr Al-Abadi is the chairman of Islamic Dawa, a Shia Islamist party that formed the core of the governing Shia coalitions of 2006 and 2010.

The alignment paves the way for a return to sectarian-based government where Shia parties come together to form a grand coalition which doubles as a patronage network that dispenses jobs to supporters.

Last month’s elections were Iraq’s fourth since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. But voter turnout was the lowest in 15 years due to widespread anger at the dysfunctional political class.

Mr Al-Sadr did not seek a seat himself, but Sa’eroun took 54 seats of the 329-seat body, followed by Fatah with 47.

The cleric directed mass protests in recent years that included calls to end foreign interference in Iraqi affairs. He would single out Iran and Iran-backed Shia militias that were widely accused of human rights violations against Sunnis while fighting IS. When the results were announced, his followers poured into Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, chanting: “Iran, out, out’’.

But now it appears the 44-year-old leader, constrained by his slim margin of victory, has little choice but to cut deals with Iran-backed factions and other Shia blocs. Mr Al-Sadr’s coalition with the Fatah bloc gives them 101 seats in Parliament — still short of the 165 needed to name a new government — though with the remaining three Shia blocs they would have 188.