SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr met with Iran’s commander of Quds Force Brigadier General Esmail Qaani in Najaf on Tuesday, according to his office.
The leader of Sadrist Movement received “Hajj Ismail Qaani” at his office in al-Hanana in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, Sadr’s office said, without giving further details.
In a tweet, Sadr reiterated his call for a “national majority government” which is “neither eastern nor western”, following the meeting with Qaani.
Qaani has been in Iraq to convince Iran-backed parties to reach an agreement over the formation of a new Iraqi government.
The Sadrist Movement wants to form a national majority government while the Coordination Framework, including Iran-backed parties, prefers a consensus government.
No single party holds an outright majority, so the next leader will be voted in by whichever coalition can negotiate allies to become the biggest bloc — which then elects Iraq’s president, who then appoints a prime minister.
In previous parliaments, parties from Iraq’s Shia majority have struck compromise deals to work together and form a government, with an unofficial system whereby the prime minister is Shia, the president is a Kurd and the speaker of parliament is Sunni.
But Sadr, who once led an anti-U.S. militia and who opposes all foreign interference, has repeatedly said the next prime minister will be chosen by his movement.
So rather than strike an alliance with the powerful Shia Coordination Framework — which includes the pro-Iran al-Fateh alliance, the political arm of the former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi — Sadr has forged a new coalition.
That includes two Sunni parties, Taqadum and Azm, as well as the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Last month, the Iranian commander visited Erbil and held talks with KDP leader Masoud Barzani. They also discussed the formation of a new cabinet, according to Iranian media.
On January 9, Sadrist movement, together with Sunni Taqaddum alliance and Kurds, re-elected Mohammed al-Halbousi as parliament speaker opposed by the Iran-aligned camp with a solid majority.
On Monday, the Iraqi Council of Representatives was set to select a new president but delayed the selection after major parties boycotted the session after the federal court temporarily suspended KDP candidate Hoshyar Zebari from presidential race.
The Iraqi federal court ruled on Sunday to suspend procedures for the nomination of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) candidate Hoshyar Zebari for the presidency.
The court said the candidacy of Zebari could not proceed until corruption charges from a separate 2016 stint as finance minister were dealt with.
Iraq normally enters months of political deadlock after each general election as the political elite jockey for spots in the new government. Iraqis are increasingly disillusioned with the political process, accusing almost all their politicians of corruption.
