State of Law’s Al-Lami: Al-Sadr ‘disciplined and loves discipline’

BAGHDAD — State of Law Coalition member Haider Al-Lami said influential Shia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr  “is disciplined and loves discipline.” Al-Lami told Al-Rabiaa TV that Sadr’s recent meeting with former parliament members was intended to send a message. “What I received is that he loves discipline,” he said.

He added that it was unlikely for Sadr to support any political figure or party: “Even if he wanted to hypothetically for some benefit, he does not need to. His Eminence gets what he wants without his followers going to the elections,” Al-Lami said.

Al-Lami said the Sadrist movement’s absence from the political process is “a loss,” but emphasized that Sadr’s decisions are his own and must be respected. “The most important thing for His Eminence is that he does not want to support a prime minister so that the mistakes of the prime minister are not attributed to the Al-Sadr family.”

Al-Sadr has reiterated his call to boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for Nov. 11.

Sadrists won 73 of parliament’s 329 seats in the October 2021 elections, forming the largest bloc. Al-Sadr pushed to form a majority government excluding Iran-aligned factions, but his efforts failed, and he ordered his MPs to resign. Their departure triggered a political deadlock that ended with the formation of a consensus government dominated by rival Shiite groups.

Another State of Law Coalition member Ammar Al-Shibli previously said the Sadrist movement’s decision to boycott the November elections will not affect the political balance, citing data from the 2021 elections that showed the group accounted for 10% of the total electorate.

Excerpts from Al-Lami’s interview with Al-Rabiaa TV:

In 2010, I was in a private session with His Eminence Muqtada Al-Sadr, and we spoke about private matters. He said, ‘I am tired of some parties. I tell them not to strike the soldier, the police officer, or the National Guard. Then they come and tell me six were killed somewhere, and something happened in Diwaniyah, and something else in Basra. They exhausted me. These people are outside of my control, and I do not accept this.’ His Eminence is disciplined and loves discipline.

If you see why at this moment His Eminence met with the brothers who were former MPs, this is a message he wants to send to everyone. What I received is that he loves discipline.

It’s not possible that His Eminence would speak in support of (Halbousi or any other party), and even if he wanted to hypothetically for some benefit, he does not need to. His Eminence gets what he wants without his followers going to the elections. If he wanted something from the next government, no one would object. So why would he buy something without a return?

For me, as Haider Al-Lami, I consider His Eminence the pillar of Iraq.

The withdrawal of the Sadrist movement from the political process is a loss, and if he wants to support one side over another, that is his opinion and his opinion is respected.

The most important thing for His Eminence is that he does not want to support a prime minister so that the mistakes of the prime minister are not attributed to the Al-Sadr family. He wants this prominent, respected name—which holds sanctity among Iraqis and Muslims, especially Shiites—to remain respected until the Day of Judgment.

Governments are formed according to participation, capability, and presence under the parliament dome. But if the prime minister wants to involve the Sadrist movement in the political process in the executive government, that is up to the prime minister—if he sees it beneficial to involve the Sadrist movement. I see this as a good thing. It is not your right to deny the Sadrist movement its presence in the state and government if it did not participate in parliament.