On Saturday, the leader of the Sadrist movement in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, warned against dragging the country into chaos and undermining civil peace due to what he described as claims by some of electoral fraud in the recent elections. In a statement posted on his Twitter account, Sadr said, "The support of the United Nations Security Council for the results of the Iraqi elections and its endorsement of their integrity, saying that they surpassed previous ones in terms of professionalism, reflects a beautiful image of Iraqi democracy."
He added that "this support gives hope for the compliance of the parties claiming fraud in this democratic process." He continued, "Dragging the country into chaos and undermining civil peace due to their dissatisfaction with the electoral results is shameful and exacerbates political tensions and security conditions; it also creates a negative perception of them, which should not be increased or repeated."
Sadr emphasized the need "not to pressure the Independent High Electoral Commission or interfere with its work, and rather to prepare a calm atmosphere for the commission to carry out its procedures regarding appeals or similar matters."
Iraq held early parliamentary elections in early October, in which Sadr's bloc was the most significant winner, securing 73 seats out of a total of 329 in the parliament. The major losers in the elections were the forces with military wings known for their ties to Iran, who contested the election results and spoke of manipulation, hoping for the cancellation of the outcomes; however, the High Electoral Commission rejected the majority of the appeals. These forces, such as "Fatih Alliance," "Victory Alliance," and "Wisdom Movement," took to the streets to protest the results.
