Iraq's Sadrist movement head Muqtada al-Sadr discussed on Nov. 5 his Cabinet formation with Victory Alliance head Haider al-Abadi during a rare visit by Sadr to the capital. This came after meeting with parliamentary speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi and National Wisdom Movement head Ammar al-Hakim. Sadr had become accustomed to handling political issues and making decisions while at his residence in the Shiite town of al-Hanana, west of Najaf.
Riyad al-Massoudi, a leading official in the Sadrist movement, told Al-Monitor that this visit lays the foundations “of the understandings following the elections in which the Sadrist movement was victorious compared with the other Shiite forces.” He added, “The government formation is a milestone, and [Sadr's] discussions with the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish forces stem from his confidence that he is able to build strong political alliances and announce the formation of a new Cabinet in the near future, after winning the voters’ confidence and obtaining a number of votes that cannot be compared to the other forces.”
He said that the movement “began preparing for the post-Cabinet formation phase and the strategies for future policies.”
The Sadrist movement placed first in the October elections with 73 out of 329 parliamentary seats. It was followed by a coalition that secured 37 seats, and the State of Law Coalition led by Nouri al-Maliki placed third with 34 seats. The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq's Kurdistan Region placed fourth with 32 seats.
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