Iraq's top cleric calls for ouster of 'corrupt leaders' in 'battle for reform'
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In his strongest expression yet of support for Iraqi protesters and criticism of the country's political elite, the nation's top Shia cleric argued that the current anti-corruption movement marked a turning point Iraq's history, adding that the state would not be the same after this "battle for reform."
A representative for Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani read his statement during a sermon in the city of Karbala on Friday, more than a month and a half after demonstrations demanding a change in the country's ruling political elite began. Sistani, in his eighties, often comments on the country’s political affairs in times of crisis.
"If those who have power think they can evade merited real reforms with procrastination and stalling, they are delusional, as what comes after these protests will not be like before in any way; be aware of that," he said.
Sistani lamented that Baghdad had yet to meet the demands of the protests, especially in regard to the ousting of "corrupt leaders, recovering the looted money from them, and canceling the unfair privileges granted to certain groups at the expense of the rest of the people."
The cleric met earlier this week with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), who said afterward that Sistani had expressed support for a UN package of reforms recently suggested to the government.
Hennis-Plasschaert said Sistani stressed "the need to conduct serious reforms within a reasonable period" and spoke favorably of a UN "proposal for one consolidated electoral framework." He also reportedly expressed his concern that “political forces are not serious enough to carry out these reforms,” adding that "peaceful demonstrators cannot go home without sufficient results."
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On Friday, Sistani reiterated his doubts about the ability of the political elite to implement reforms, saying that the protests started because the people "found no other way to get rid of the corruption worsening day after day," and that "rampant devastation" that has plagued the country for years is the result of "the consensus of the ruling forces—from various components—to turn the country into spoils they share between each other with some of them overlooking the corruption of others."
He also rejected foreign interference, warning that "the battle for reform waged by the Iraqi people is a united national battle, and Iraqis are the ones who bear the heavy burdens, and an outside entity is not allowed to [steer it] in any direction."
Editing by John J. Catherine