Days after Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr called for the restoration of the Shiite house, representatives of his Sadrist movement announced on Tuesday the possibility of forming alliances outside their circle.
The call launched by Sadr did not find resonance among the Shiite parties, while the Sunni and Kurdish blocs saw in it a diversion from Sadr’s previous invitation for cross-sectarian alliances.
While the Al-Fateh Alliance cautiously welcomed the call, the State of Law Coalition, led by Nuri al-Maliki and Al-Hikma Movement, led by Ammar al-Hakim, as well as other Shiite forces and parties remained silent.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Salah al-Obaidi, Sadr’s official spokesman, said there was no objection to forming alliances outside the Shiite house.
The elections, which were initially scheduled to take place on June 6, 2021, are now expected to take place towards the end of 2021.
In remarks last week, Sadr responded to criticism over his call to reunite the Shiite house, saying in a Tweet on Friday that he was the first to stand against sectarianism.
“Our call to restore the Shiite house does not mean alliance with the corrupt,” he said, adding: “If the Shiite home is restored, it is a first step to go towards other houses.”
But Sadr’s representatives at their press conference on Tuesday expressed a different stance.
Al-Obaidi stressed that it was “too early to talk about alliances,” noting at the same time that the doors were “open to the national forces, and there is no objection to forming an alliance outside the Shiite home.”
