Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan
The Sadrist movement begins its first steps to gradually return to the political scene through the gate of “unified prayer” in a year that the movement called the year of change.
This comes at a time when the government of Muhammad al-Sudani is approaching the completion of the first hundred days, and the political forces are preparing to legislate the local elections law.
On the other hand, the street boils due to the continued escalation of the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, while the coordination framework reduces these concerns and believes that there are no justifications for new protests.
Yesterday, the office of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced the establishment of unified Friday prayers in all governorates, including Baghdad.
The last unified prayer in Baghdad (outside the Green Zone) took place days before what the movement then called the “Ashura Revolution,” when al-Sadr’s supporters staged a sit-in inside parliament last August for more than a month.
A leader in the Sadrist movement spoke to (Al-Mada) about the reasons for calling for unified prayer and its relationship to the mobilization that the movement has conducted since Al-Sadr announced his retirement after the Green Zone clashes.
The leader, who asked not to be identified, says: “Friday prayers are one of the most important addresses of the movement and the secret of communication between it and its fans.”
The leader confirmed that the Sadrist movement “is carrying out operations to mobilize and organize the ranks and restructure some joints in a year that has been called the year of change.. the comprehensive change, including the political one for sure.”
The Sadrist movement, in agreement with Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi, expects that the current year may bring major political changes that may not occur beyond the first quarter of the year.
And the leader stated that the movement “carries out, through the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous project, educational, social and political tasks, and carries out purification operations for some abusers.”
He added, “Prayer is not only worship, but it will contain political and social messages and a means of communication with the public.”
The call for prayer issued by the Sadrist movement’s office bore the slogan “The Year of Change,” while the document stated that it was decided that next Friday would be “a unified Friday in all provinces, each in his own province.”
And the invitation document added: “The unified Friday prayer will take place in the Baghdad governorate, in Sadr City.”
The last unified Friday prayer held by the movement in Baghdad was during the sit-ins inside the Green Zone, which ended in armed confrontations at the end of last August.
At the time, Muhannad al-Musawi, the preacher of the “Unified Friday” in Baghdad, which took place in the celebration square, said that what Iraq has achieved today was the result of what he described as corruption.
Al-Moussawi accused what he called the authoritarian parties affiliated with abroad of causing the current crisis in Iraq before Al-Sadr retired and formed the government’s coordination framework.
Al-Mada had previously revealed the process of “re-momentum” being conducted by the Sadrist movement before the expected local elections at the end of this year.
The current aims to control the largest number of provincial councils, achieving a “comfortable majority” so that it does not have to ally with any party.
During the past year, the Sadrist movement suffered violent political shocks, and lost more than 50 of its followers, according to his account, in the armed clashes that took place in the Green Zone.
And before that, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the movement, had given up the biggest gain he achieved after 2003, when he decided to withdraw his deputies from Parliament in June 2022 and not to participate in forming the government.
In the last two years, the Sadrist movement had launched a new project called “Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous” – a name taken from the Qur’an when it talks about believers uniting in fighting as one wall – and it was considered as a new party operating in the shadows and might jump to the fore at any moment.
The movement began to give a cultural imprint on the new entity, while thousands of young people joined after opening the door for registration for the project, which organizes free courses for school students and religious lectures.
It is not yet known whether the movement will again engage in protests, despite its leaders’ assertion that this is tantamount to a “mass execution of youth,” in reference to what happened in the Green clashes.
Last year, Muqtada al-Sadr issued a stern warning to prevent demonstrations that his followers tried to organize in front of his house in Hanana, in the city of Najaf.
He had also preached al-Sadr last November, for the first time in Friday prayers in the city of Kufa, after the political crisis and his retirement.
His supporters said at the time that the speeches, which at the time did not carry any political expressions, said that they would change in the future and would be more related to the political issue.
On the other hand, his opponent, the coordination framework, faces severe internal divisions due to the dollar crisis and the file of special degrees.
The leader in the “framework,” Rasul Abu Hasna, expects that “parties – he did not name them – will take advantage of some delays, especially in the issue of the dollar.”
But in general, he says in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “there are no justifications for the protests.. The dollar will be dealt with and there is a plan to withdraw the youth from the street.”
Abu Hasna, a former deputy for the State of Law, adds: “In the next budget, there are 450,000 jobs that will reduce unemployment.” As for the unified Friday prayer, the former deputy says: “This is a religious matter, not a political one.
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