The followers of the popular Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr began to organize this Sunday for a long takeover of the Iraqi Parliament after breaking into it on Saturday for the second time in a week and spending their first night inside, in the face of the contention so far of the security forces.
In the midst of a calm situation, the security forces are for the moment allowing protesters and Legislative workers to enter and leave freely while the around 4,000-5,000 Sadrists who remain in the building and its surroundings are organizing with tents. campaign and committees to put up with the protests indefinitely.
Among its requests, according to some of its members, are the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of new elections, although for the moment its leader has not yet ruled on the takeover and its demands.
A source from the Parliament explained to Efe that supporters of Al Sadr's movement set up some tents in the outer courtyard of the building, located in Baghdad's guarded Green Zone, where the headquarters of the country's main official institutions and numerous embassies.
According to the informant, the occupants have set up committees to control who enters and leaves the compound and are allowing Parliament officials from nearby departments to go to work.
Currently, the atmosphere is calm and, after the hundreds of injuries that occurred on Saturday during the demonstrations in the Green Zone and the seizure of the Lower House, there have been no more frictions between the protesters and the security forces.
Captain Saal al Taí, from the Baghdad Operations Command, told Efe that the agents are deployed intensively around the building and other institutions in the Green Zone, but they have instructions from the high command of the Armed Forces of Baghdad. avoid hurting protesters.
One of the members of the Sadrist movement that participated in the seizure of Parliament, Raad al Saadi, told Efe by telephone that his action is "a message that there is no place for the corrupt" and to announce his "rejection of the Marco of Coordination to lead the next Government, Mohamed al Sudani".
The Coordination Framework is an alliance of parties, made up, among others, of the State of Law, of former Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki (2006-2014), and the Fatah Bloc, the political arm of the pro-Iranian militias, which became majority in Parliament after the withdrawal at the beginning of June of the deputies of the Sadrista Bloc.
These, which had won the largest number of seats (73 out of a total of 329) in the October elections, resigned following the orders of Al Sadr after the Coordination Framework boycotted the vote on several occasions with the absence of its legislators. to elect the candidate for president proposed by the coalition led by the Sadrists.
The news that the Coordination Framework planned to convene Parliament over the weekend for the election of the new president caused a first appearance by Al Sadr supporters in Parliament, although they withdrew a few hours later, obeying a call from him.
"We also demand to dissolve Parliament, hold fair elections and form a government that serves the citizens. We will continue our sit-in until we achieve our demands," said Al Saadi.
The UN mission in Iraq warned that the escalation of violence was "deeply worrying" and appealed to "reason" to "avoid further violence."
"The ongoing escalation is deeply worrying. The voices of reason and wisdom are essential to prevent further violence. We encourage all actors to de-escalate in the interests of all Iraqis," the UN mission said, without doing explicit reference to assault.
For its part, the European Union (EU) expressed this Sunday its "concern" about the protests against the Iraqi Parliament, warned that state institutions must be respected and called for moderation and dialogue among all political forces to resolve the situation within the framework of the Constitution.
“The EU is concerned about the ongoing protests and their possible escalation in Baghdad. We call on all parties to act with restraint and avoid further violence," a spokeswoman for the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said in a statement.
