Supporting protesters, Iraq’s Sadr calls for postponing government formation

Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, whose bloc had a massive win in the parliamentary elections last May, called on all concerned politicians to stop all efforts to form a new government, until the demands by protesters for better services, especially in the southern provinces, are met.

In his first comments on the protests sweeping south Iraq, al-Sadr tweetted on Thursday saying: “All political blocs which won in the current elections should suspend all political discussions to form alliances and other, until the protesters’ legitimate demands are met.”

The central Iraqi current government of Haidar al-Abadi seeks to contain the protests which erupted on July 8 in southern Iraq with eight killed, while 60 others were injured, according to Iraqi health officials who said that the protests were marred by riots.

On the other hand, though the Iraqi government believes that the people’s demands are legitimate, it nevertheless considered the protests as being orchestrated. Full story