In unusual alliance, Iraq’s powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr teams up with communists for election
Communists dominated Iraqi politics in the 1950s, but were crushed and marginalised under dictator Saddam Hussein
Supporters of a black-turbaned Shiite cleric are seeing red in the run-up to Iraq’s May elections thanks to an unprecedented alliance with the once-powerful Communist Party.
Populist preacher Moqtada al-Sadr has defied his clerical rivals and opted to campaign for the May 12 poll alongside former enemies, Marxists who demand a secular state.
“This alliance is a first in Iraq,” said Ibrahim al-Jaberi, a Sadrist official.
“It’s a revolution by Iraqis who want reforms – both secularists, like the communists, and by moderate Islamists.”
Jaberi, a 34-year-old cleric who sports a red beard along with his black turban and gown, heads every Friday to central Baghdad’s Tahrir Square to address hundreds of anti-government protesters.
“This alliance is no surprise because for more than two years we’ve been fighting together in every province against sectarianism,” he said.
Civil society activists launched the protest movement in July 2015, demanding reforms, better public services and an end to corruption.