Iraq’s powerful cleric says “deadline for government reform” ends Saturday
The influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced Friday that his deadline for “radical government reforms against corruption” will expire on Saturday and warned of “grave consequences” for any party that would stand in the way of “punishing the corrupted officials.” “If Prime Minister (Haidar al-) Abadi submitted a logical and convincing reform package […]The influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced Friday that his deadline for “radical government reforms against corruption” will expire on Saturday and warned of “grave consequences” for any party that would stand in the way of “punishing the corrupted officials.”
“If Prime Minister (Haidar al-) Abadi submitted a logical and convincing reform package to the parliament, we will support him in an effective way,” Sadr said in an announcement on Friday.
“But if the parliament refuses to endorse the genuine reform package, we will then direct our protests against the anti-reformists in the parliament,” Sadr said.
The announcement was read in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone where Sadr supporters have staged daily protests in front of government ministries since February 12, when the colorful Shiite politician gave the Iraqi government 45 days to carry out “radical reforms.”
