SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani doesn’t agree with choosing Mustafa al-Kadhimi as the country’s prime minister, a Shia leader told Esta Media Network on Wednesday, as parties have begun negotiations to form the new government of Iraq.
Asaad Murshidi, leader in Al-Fateh Alliance led by Hadi al-Amiri, said information “leaked” from the office of al-Sistani indicated that the top Shia cleric “does not agree with choosing Mustafa al-Kadhimi as prime minister.”
Iraq’s October 10 elections reinforced the parliamentary strength of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and saw a sharp decline in that of his adversaries, according to preliminary results.
A final tally from the ballot is expected in the coming weeks, but so far no bloc has a clear mandate.
Regarding information that Sadr and Kadhimi had reached an agreement that the latter would be re-elected, the al-Fateh leader said the Sadrist movement “is not a permanent friend.”
“Past experiences have shown that he had promised ministerial posts to ministers and to choose them as ministers again, but then he failed to keep his promises,” Murshidi told Esta Media Network.
The Shia leader also accused Kadhimi of electoral fraud and changing the results.
“Certainly, it is impossible that he will be re-elected as prime minister,” Murshidi said.
According to preliminary results al-Fateh Alliance emerged from the election with only around 15 seats in parliament.
In the last chamber it had 48, which made it the second largest bloc.
No name has yet emerged as a replacement for Kadhimi.
Sadr had claimed he was going to name the next prime minister, but the one ultimately chosen “has to be a consensus candidate,” AFP cited Lahib Higel, a senior analyst on Iraq at the International Crisis Group, as saying.
It could be Kadhimi himself, he added.
Well connected both in Tehran and Washington, he brought forward the elections, originally scheduled for 2022, in response to the anti-government protests over endemic corruption, unemployment and failing public services.
With no base of his own and no seat in parliament, Kadhimi could be a convenient choice “because to a certain degree you will get rid of a part of the responsibility when the face of the government is someone else,” Higel said.
“He has a chance.”
