Sunnis, Kurds court Sadr as new Iraqi government takes shape
As negotiations to form Iraq's next government kick into high gear, Sunni and Kurdish leaders are streaming to the house of triumphant Muqtada al-Sadr.
The main negotiations between Sairoon Alliance leader Muqtada al-Sadr and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi produced “near complete alignment to form a strong technocratic government,” according to Abadi in his weekly conference May 22. In the wake of these negotiations, Sunni and Kurdish delegations flocked to meet with Sadr to join the next government.
Sadr welcomed former speaker and head of the Al-Qarar Alliance Osama al-Nujaifi in Baghdad the same day. Sadr’s political bureau said in a statement that the meeting was part of the negotiations and efforts “to form an inclusive national government.”
Sadr also met with Khaled al-Obeidi, the head of Bayariq al-Khair Bloc allied with Abadi in the Nasr Alliance. During the meeting, read the same statement, “the parties discussed the national goals and principles that are top priority in the inclusive government the Iraqi people look forward to regardless of their affiliations and sects, hoping that the government will pull the people out of their poor economic situation and fight the corruption and sectarianism that bred terrorism.”
Sadr had met with the leader of the Sunni Al-Wataniyah Alliance earlier.
