Why Sadr Is Returning to Iraq’s Limelight (Mohamad Bazzi, Zachary Laub, CFR)

Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia cleric who led an insurgency at the height of Iraq’s civil war, is once again asserting himself as a power broker in Iraqi politics. He has mobilized followers to back Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s reform agenda, which includes replacing cabinet members with technocrats. This has pitted Abadi against Shia lawmakers, who stand to forfeit power from the reforms. In late April, protestors led by Sadr occupied the Green Zone and parliament. At least for now, the protests serve Abadi well, since the prime minister “does not have a natural constituency,” says Mohamad Bazzi, a professor of journalism at NYU who reports on the region. But the political paralysis has set back Iraq’s campaign to retake its second-largest city, Mosul, from the self-proclaimed Islamic State, Bazzi says.

http://www.cfr.org/iraq/why-sadr-returning-iraqs-limelight/p37840