Iraqi Shiite religious leaders divided on Maliki

The Iraqi newspaper Al-Alam published a report on May 6 in which it indicated that the statements of Ayatollah Bashir Najafi, who is one of the four prominent religious authorities in Najaf, was not an isolated event. In the details, Najafi had called on Iraqi voters to refrain from voting for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The newspaper reported from a source close to the religious establishment in Najaf that the son of Najafi, Sheikh Ali al-Najafi, urged voters to support the Citizen Coalition led by Ammar al-Hakim during his visit to the south, with the elections just around the corner.

Although the strong stance of Najafi against Maliki, only a few days before the elections, surprised many people, the political and religious circles were already aware of the tension between the two men that had been implicitly expressed in previous statements and insinuations.

It seems that Najafi reproaches Maliki for not heeding the authorities' advice, including the advice of “replacing the school curricula to better reflect the Shiite perspective.” Najafi also thinks that Maliki has failed to address the security situation in Iraq. Although many expected Najafi’s call to have a negative effect on Maliki’s chances in the elections, the information that has been leaked so far about the results of the elections do not show that these statements brought any radical changes to the political balances. This is probably because they were not supported openly by the supreme religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, who maintained his stance of calling for the participation in the elections and “choosing the best candidate.” Sistani did not reveal any clear bias toward any of the competing forces. Moreover, Najafi does not have a huge number of followers in Iraq, and some of his statements were not convincing enough or seemed inconsistent.

Despite this, a sort of tension between Maliki’s government and the Shiite religious institution in general can be felt. This was reflected in several of Sistani’s stances: Sistani boycotted a meeting with all governmental officials and sent out a call for change to the Iraqi voters. While the elections were getting closer, he also welcomed the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, who is known for his strong criticism of Maliki. Moreover, Sistani made a statement that implicitly denied Maliki’s allegation that the grand ayatollah holds him in high regard and shares with him the discontent with the rest of political class.