In an act not seen since 2003, an Iraqi politician has criticized the Shiite religious authority in Najaf, accusing it of seeking to dominate the state. The criticism triggered a strong reaction in political and cultural circles, even more harsh than in the religious ones.

The politician in question is State of Law coalition MP Izzat al-Shahbandar, who used to be close to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Before that, Shabandar was an MP in the rival Iraqiya coalition. He then switched to the prime minister’s coalition, but lost in the last parliamentary elections. When Maliki became prime minister, he gave his parliamentary seat to Shahbandar.

In two consecutive press statements in the first week of August, Shahbandar said, “The religious authority [in Najaf] is trying to [take the place of the state’s authority] by appealing to people’s emotions. The religious authority and most clerics have huge financial resources. Who holds them accountable? Which authority oversees the disbursement of [the religious authority’s] financial resources?”

Although Maliki has distanced himself from Shahbandar’s statements and gave orders for Shahbandar to stop speaking in the name of the State of Law coalition, it is likely that Shahbandar did not act out of his accord, but rather on behalf of the coalition. He indicated so when he justified his criticisms against the religious authority as coming after “the religious authority and its representatives had disregarded in their latest speeches the Iraqi state, its politicians and officials, and accused them of having no conscience.” That was a clear reference to the Najaf authority stepping up its rhetoric over the past year against the political elite, especially the government, due to the continued failure to maintain security, provide public services and improve standards of living. Over the past two years, major Najaf figures refused to receive political leaders participating in the government because the latter broke their electoral promises.