CALL ‘BACK HOME’
Muqtada al-Sadr, who held a press conference at noon yesterday, called on his supporters to “Go home”. Stating that the protests should not continue because it has lost its peaceful character, Sadr said, “Shedding Iraqi blood is now prohibited. I want even the sit-in to end,” he said. Sadr apologized to the Iraqi people for the clashes and called on his supporters to return to their homes within an hour. While Sadr’s statements were effective, the curfew was lifted after the clashes subsided.
EARLY ELECTION SIGNAL
Iraqi President Barham Salih gave the green light to the early elections in his speech after the protesters pulled out of the streets. Stating that the election means a way out of the crisis, Salih said, “This also guarantees political and social stability and responds to the wishes of the Iraqi people.” In Iraq, which has not been able to form a government since the general elections in October 2021 and has been in the grip of a political crisis, there have been concerns about civil war among Shiites for a while. Although the first party emerged in the general elections, the Sadr Movement, which refused to negotiate with other Shiite groups and could not obtain the necessary majority to form the government, demanded re-election and the abolition of the parliament.
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