03:45Iraq: Thousands of Sadrist Movement supporters demonstrate in Baghdad's Tahrir Square
Tens of thousands of supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and the surrounding streets on Friday, to protest against corruption and to perform the Friday prayers.
The demonstrators were seen holding Iraqi flags, pictures of al-Sadr and his late father, and performing prayers without paying much attention to social distancing rules, despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sadrist Movement, led by al-Sadr, earlier called for demonstrations to fight against institutional corruption, ahead of the nextparliamentary elections which are scheduled for next June.
"[We] stand in solidarity with His Eminence, the Iraqi leader Muqtada al-Sadr, [by organising] this solidarity million-march after the Friday prayer. [We support] the leader of reform on his path to reform, through updating the bio-metric electoral cards, and calling on the Iraqi people to join this path by saying their famous slogan: No to the corrupt," said Director of the Martyr al-Sadr office in Baghdad, Ibrahim al-Jabri.
The Sadrist Movement is considered to be the largest bloc in the parliament, after winning 54 out of 329 of its seats in the 2018 elections.
03:45Tens of thousands of supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and the surrounding streets on Friday, to protest against corruption and to perform the Friday prayers.
The demonstrators were seen holding Iraqi flags, pictures of al-Sadr and his late father, and performing prayers without paying much attention to social distancing rules, despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sadrist Movement, led by al-Sadr, earlier called for demonstrations to fight against institutional corruption, ahead of the nextparliamentary elections which are scheduled for next June.
"[We] stand in solidarity with His Eminence, the Iraqi leader Muqtada al-Sadr, [by organising] this solidarity million-march after the Friday prayer. [We support] the leader of reform on his path to reform, through updating the bio-metric electoral cards, and calling on the Iraqi people to join this path by saying their famous slogan: No to the corrupt," said Director of the Martyr al-Sadr office in Baghdad, Ibrahim al-Jabri.
The Sadrist Movement is considered to be the largest bloc in the parliament, after winning 54 out of 329 of its seats in the 2018 elections.