Al-Sadr - Retiring or Repositioning?

If Sadr decides to revive his link to the bloc (albeit indirectly), that may enhance the chances of its candidates and perhaps open the door to large-scale changes in the nature of its leadership and orientations. Sadr is currently subjected to political and popular pressure to reverse his decision.

Except for Maliki’s bloc, which is served by Sadr’s withdrawal from the election, other leaders such as Osama Ammar al-Hakim, Osama al-Nujaifi and Iyad Allawi have asked Sadr to invert his decision.

In his latest speech, Sadr reaffirmed commitment to his decision, but he left the door open for alternative arrangements in the future. In these arrangements, the name of Jaafar al-Sadr, Muqtada's cousin and the son of Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, is mentioned. In the last general elections, Jaafar was part of Maliki's bloc, but he withdrew from parliament and the bloc to protest being sidelined. Despite his limited political experience, Jaafar has a prominent status, which was enhanced after his decision to resign from parliament because Iraqis generally don’t regard lawmakers very highly.

In recent months, there have been signs that Sadr and Jaafar are coordinating. If this coordination is enhanced, it can fill the void left by Sadr’s withdrawal from leading the Ahrar bloc, and lead to the formation of an alternative Shiite political project that enjoys broad popular support and can compensate for the failures of the Shiite political class, which has been running matters since 2003. But this remains just a hypothesis that may not materialize. In any case, Sadr's next steps will greatly determine the course of the next election.