“This is a tectonic shift that threatens to derail the political order as a whole after 2003,” said Ranj Alaaldin, a non-resident Foreign Policy Officer at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, DC.
In a handwritten statement, Sandr said his request for his MPs to resign was “a sacrifice made by me for the country and the people to free them from the unknown destiny”.
Sajad Jiyad, a fellow at The Century Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C., said the move “has changed political discourse.”
The cleric is extremely popular in Iraq. For years he has spoken out against both Iran and the United States, and in October emerged as the clear winner in parliamentary elections that threatened to oust the pro-Iran Shiite bloc that has long dominated the oil-rich country’s politics. But politics has since stalled as controversy and allegations of corruption have hampered the presidential election and prevented the formation of a government. “If the Sadrist bloc remains [in parliament] “If there is an obstacle to forming a government, then all the bloc’s legislators are honorably ready to resign from parliament,” Sadr said in a televised speech on Thursday, as he set the stage for his resignation.
Experts say that according to the procedure, as soon as a member of parliament resigns and the procedure is completed, the next legislator with the largest number of votes enters as a replacement.
“This will redistribute 73 parliamentary seats among the various political blocs,” Abbas Kadhim, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, wrote on Twitter, adding that Shiites aligned with Iran are expected to take those seats, along with some independents.
So is Sadr retreating to Iranian-backed groups or is it just an attempt to show his power on the streets, where he has enormous influence? Analysts say it may be the latter.
“Sadr’s secret weapon is his vast network of supporters and his dominance in the streets,” Aladdin said, adding that “the departure of the Sadrists is a sign of intent to confront his opponents on the street.”
The resignations came after Iranian-aligned Shiite blocs opposed the initiative to form a Sadr government, said Ihsan al-Samari, a professor of politics at Baghdad University and head of the Iraqi Center for Political Thought. It also comes as Sadr realizes he can not form a national majority government by thwarting the rival bloc.
Sadr may signal to his supporters that he did everything he could to try to form a government with his Shiite rivals aligned with Iran, Jiyad said. The move could also pose a threat to other parties, showing them they can not do without him, he added.
The clergy ‘s influence has far diminished, Al-Shammari said. “Sadr will continue in the direction of the popular opposition … I think [this] it will double its political power. ”
Analysts say the ouster of Sadr and his party from the government will lead to chaos and that any government born of Sadr’s isolation “will be dead.”
“This will lead to anger from Iraqis and Sadr supporters,” al-Samari said. “They will not agree to see their leader politically dissolved or isolated.”
Digestion
Iran, Venezuela under US sanctions sign 20-year co-operation agreement
Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year co-operation plan in Tehran on Saturday, with the Islamic Republic’s top leader saying the two allies would continue to resist pressure from Washington.
Background: The project includes increased cooperation in the fields of oil, petrochemicals, defense, agriculture and tourism. The signing was imposed by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in northern Tehran. Maduro also said a weekly flight from Caracas to Tehran would begin on July 18.
Why it matters: Both oil producers are subject to deadly US sanctions. Ties between them have deepened, especially within their oil sectors, in what Iran says is resistance to US pressure.
The UAE bans the screening of “Lightyear” movies due to content infringement The United Arab Emirates on Monday banned the public screening of Walt Disney-Pixar’s animated film “Lightyear” in cinemas before its release this week, a government official said. The Media Regulatory Office of the Ministry of Youth and Culture wrote on Twitter that the film violated the content standards of the country’s media, without specifying the violation.
Background: The film reportedly includes a same-sex kiss between two women in a relationship. Like many other nations in the Middle East, same-sex relationships are criminalized in the UAE. The film, focusing on the action character Buzz Lightyear from the popular Toy Story franchise series, had already been announced for release in the UAE on June 16. Why it matters: The UAE has in the past avoided joining neighboring Arab nations in banning same-sex films. Censors in Arab states have recently banned such films as production studios refuse to accept cuts. Movies like Eternals and Doctor Strange 2 were banned in many Arab countries this year, but not in the UAE.
NATO chief says Turkey’s security concerns are legitimate Concerns about security raised by Turkey in opposition to Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids are legitimate, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday during a visit to Finland. “We must remember and understand that no NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey,” Stoltenberg said.
Background: Sweden and Finland said they intended to join the Western defense alliance last month in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But they faced opposition from Turkey, which accused them of supporting and hosting Kurdish fighters and other groups it considers terrorists. Why it matters: Despite being a member of NATO, Turkey maintains cordial ties with Moscow as it wages war against Ukraine. All Member States must approve new entrants to NATO’s military alliance.
Around the area
A 98-million-year-old fossil discovered in the Egyptian desert six years ago has been discovered to be a new species of dinosaur with a large body that eats meat.
A team from the University of Mansoura in Egypt discovered the fossil in the Bahariya Oasis in the western part of the country in 2016. The fossil was identified in a study published by the Royal Society of the United Kingdom on Wednesday as “the oldest definitive record of the from Egypt and Northeast Africa “.
The species, which has not yet been named, belongs to a family of dinosaurs called “Abelisauridae”, described by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as “a species of bulldog-faced, tiny-toothed therapist estimated to be about six meters tall. (20 feet) in body length “.
“The Bahariya Oasis would be one of the scariest places on the planet; how all these huge predators managed to coexist remains a mystery,” said study leader Belal Salem of the Carnegie Museum.
The oasis is a goldmine for paleontologists because of the variety of fossils found there. Unfortunately, all the fossils collected there before World War II have been destroyed. In 1944, a collection of fossils discovered by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer disappeared from Allied bombs that hit a building housing the collection in Munich.
By Mohamed Abdelbari
