Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday renewed his call to boycott next week’s parliamentary election as campaigning intensifies amid divisions within his camp and a bout of political violence.
In a handwritten letter posted to Facebook, Sadr declared, “I will never be a patron of the criminals,” ending with the hashtag #boycotters.
Iraq’s parliamentary election is set for Nov. 11, the sixth such vote since longtime ruler Saddam Hussein was toppled in the 2003 US-led invasion. A total of 7,768 candidates running on 90 electoral lists are competing for 329 parliamentary seats. The vote will determine the country’s next prime minister and cabinet.
Sadr, an influential cleric whose bloc received the most votes in the 2021 election, withdrew from politics in 2022 after he was unable to form a government. Current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took office in 2022 with the backing of the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Sadr has repeatedly lambasted the political process since his withdrawal.
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