Nationalist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and Iranian-backed militia chief Hadi Al Amiri, who won first and second place respectively in Iraq’s parliamentary election in May, on Tuesday announced an alliance between their political blocs.
The move announced from the Shiite holy city of Najaf is the first serious step towards forming a new government after weeks of negotiations between parties. It comes exactly one month after an election marred by historically low turnout and fraud allegations.
The two Shiite leaders said they would keep the door open for other winning blocs to join them in forming a new government.
“Our meeting was a very positive one," Mr Al Sadr said. "We met to end the suffering of this nation and of the people. Our new alliance is a nationalist one.”
The pair are strange bedfellows.
The cleric, who once led violent campaigns against the US occupation that ended in 2011, has emerged as a nationalist opponent of powerful Shiite parties allied with neighbouring Iran and as a champion of the poor.
He backed in the election the Saeroon list composed of his followers, the Communist Party, and other secular candidates.
Mr Al Amiri, a fluent Farsi speaker, is Iran’s closest ally in Iraq, having spent two years in exile there during the era of Saddam Hussein.
The Fatih alliance he led in the election was composed of political groups tied to Iran-backed Shiite militias that helped government forces to dislodge ISIS militants from the third of Iraq they seized four years ago.
“Fatih and Saeroon announce forming the nucleus of the largest bloc and call on all winning blocs to participate in this alliance under a government programme agreed upon by all that is suitable to face the challenges, crises, and problems facing Iraq,” a Fatih spokesman said in a statement.
The alliance, which together has 101 seats, 64 short of the majority needed to form a government, came hours after prime minister Haider Al Abadi, who’s own bloc came third, urged politicians to keep negotiating over the formation of a government despite an impending nationwide manual recount of votes.
Parliament ordered the recount after Mr Al Abadi said a government report showed that there had been serious security breaches and other irregularities in the ballot.
A few days later a fire was discovered at a storage site housing half of Baghdad’s ballot boxes, raising tensions and prompting some to call for the election to be repeated.
Mr Al Abadi said on Tuesday that he opposed a repeat, echoing the stances of Mr Al Sadr and Mr Al Amiri, and warned that anyone who tried to sabotage the political process would be punished.
He might yet secure a second term as a compromise candidate if he joins his bloc with the pair and manages to win their backing.
“The matter is exclusively in the hands of the judiciary, not politicians. The government and parliament don’t have the power to cancel the election,” Mr Al Abadi said about a repeat of the vote.
The government report had recommended a recount of five per cent of votes but the outgoing parliament, in which over half of its politicians — including the house speaker — lost their seats, instead voted for a nationwide one.
Mr Al Amiri said on Tuesday he supported only a partial recount.
He called the fire a deliberate act and said the attorney general would bring charges against those who were trying to undermine the political process.
An Iraqi court ordered the arrest of four people accused of setting fire to the storage site. Three of them were policemen and one an employee of the elections commission.
Mr Al Abadi said a preliminary report had provided evidence of petrol at several areas inside the storage site. It also showed that security cameras had been disabled and no locks had been broken, implying it was carried out by someone with access to the building.
Iraqi authorities said the ballot boxes had been rescued, but the fire has fuelled fears of violence.
Mr Al Sadr has warned that certain parties are trying to drag Iraq into a civil war, adding that he would not participate in one.
Mr Al Abadi thanked Mr Al Sadr for a disarmament initiative he floated after a weapons cache at his Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City exploded, killing 18 people, and said he hoped the cleric would stick to it.
“I welcome Sayed Moqtada’s announcement that his followers commit to not having weapons outside the framework of the state. We consider this good,” he said, adding that those responsible for the explosion would be brought to justice.
“What happened in Sadr City is very regrettable. It is a crime. Those responsible will receive their just punishment.”
Mr Al Sadr ordered his own separate investigation into the incident. He said on Tuesday that he had identified the culprit, who was now on the run, but that he would be brought to justice.
