Unease in the Middle East: Iraq’s political crisis explained

Muqtada al-Sadr

By Cal Abbo

Iraq is in the midst of its worst political crisis since the U.S. invasion in 2003 and the execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006.

The famous cleric and political figure Muqtada al-Sadr has disrupted the government for months now. It all began ten months ago, when Iraq elected a new parliament that was supposed to form a government. Al-Sadr’s bloc won a strong plurality of votes, but his political rivals refused to acknowledge his win and participate.

In June, al-Sadr directed his entire bloc to resign from parliament, which resulted in 73 vacant seats that were filled in the interim mostly by an alliance of Iran-backed parties. Since the resignation and subsequent appointments, the country has been rocked by popular protests and calls for a new election by many in the Sadrist camp.

This year in Iraq has been a particularly bad one with regard to the economy and standard of living. Iraq’s water supply, which is affected by the third consecutive year of drought, has also suffered at the hands of countries reducing water flow in the Tigris and Euphrates.

Its power supply, which is notoriously problematic, has been affected by the intense summer heat and excessive demand. This summer is one of Iraq’s hottest on record.

These issues are difficult to address for an interim parliament that is without an official government. In this political crisis, the parliament is limited in what it can do because it first has to solve months-old disputes over the election.

Protests have also penetrated inside the Green Zone, the district where most government business in Baghdad is conducted. The protestors, who are part of the Sadrist movement, continue to emphasize they are fighting against corruption and to help the poorer districts in Iraq that are struggling with food and water.

Corruption is an extraordinary issue in Iraq. Almost daily it seems there is news about another corruption scandal having to do with the government. Those in al-Sadr’s camp claim to be firmly opposed to corruption and there are some reforms in the movement’s platform that would reduce it. On the other hand, while many political figures have promised to remedy the problem, little has changed in the last two decades.

The former president of Iraq, Barham Salih, said in 2021 that $150 billion of oil money had been stolen and smuggled out of Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Among political analysts, Iraq is surely considered one of the most corrupt countries on the planet. Petty corruption, which involves low-level administrators taking small bribes, is almost expected in certain aspects of the public-facing government.

In June, Iraq’s anti-corruption commission exposed a massive scandal in which 41 people misappropriated nearly $700 million in public funds through forgery, embezzlement, manipulation, and money laundering. Iraq’s economy relies heavily on cash, which has made this type of corruption simple and low risk.

In addition, earlier in August, Iraq’s finance minister Ali Allawi announced his resignation from political office. This decision, he said in a letter, is the direct result of the political crisis. The government, his letter said, has made exceptional achievements regarding development and progress. The current situation, however, leaves the government “shackled by a power struggle.”