Why Al Sadr’s suddenly withdrew from politics

Al Sadr's withdrawal from the Iraqi election raises many questions, writes Abdel Rahman Al Rashed. Other views: choice for Egyptians (Amr Hamzawy– Al Shorouk), Arab Spring (Nacer Abdelrahman El Farra – Al Quds Al Arabi)

Questions abound after Muqtada Al Sadr’s withdrawal from the political arena, asking his followers not to interfere in politics. “Does this decision emanate from a surreptitious agreement to open the door of victory before one of the candidates?” asks Abdel Rahman Al Rashed in the pan-Arab daily Asharq El Awsat. “Perhaps to leave the way open to his adversary Nouri El Maliki without having to face elections? Or is it out of anger with members of his political bloc who defied his orders at the parliament? Or could it be an electoral tactic to anticipate in the upcoming elections?”

The answers to these questions remain unknown. It is however certain that the announcement has spoiled the plans of those engineering the upcoming elections. Mr Al Sadr’s followers are numerous and will not abstain from casting their votes at the forthcoming elections next April.

Who will benefit from the votes of these millions of Sadrists now that Al Sadr has resigned? “Their votes are a gigantic treasure, for they are capable of tipping the balance at the polls,” he said.

Mr Al Sadr is interesting and courageous. He is the only Shiite leader who incessantly and fiercely stood against the US-led invasion of Iraq for seven years. He challenged Mr Al Maliki and is the only Shiite religious leader who encouraged reconciliation with the Sunnis and stood against whoever spread hostile statements about Sunni historical symbols. Such positions exposed him to smear campaigns and threats from both Shiite and Sunni fanatics.

Mr Al Sadr’s untimely announcement emerged at a critical time in the history of the cabinet’s leadership in Iraq, spreading chaos across the political scene and leading to all sorts of speculation. Al Sadr could have pulled back after the elections and retired from politics then. He could have personally quit and handed the movement’s leadership over to someone worthy of it.

This withdrawal enhances Al Maliki’s chances of winning the premiership once more, extending his mandate over Iraq for another six years of dictatorship, one which Iraqis have paid a hefty price since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

The purpose of bringing Mr Al Maliki down in the upcoming elections is to establish a system of political participation and accountability as well as independent institutions. Such notions were shattered by eight years of autocracy under Mr Al Maliki, who came to possess powers greater than those Saddam enjoyed and more money than any other Iraqi government in the six past decades.

“Mr Al Sadr can be thanked for his withdrawal as it came from a will to bring all institutions to neutrality, to keep religion away from all political work,” he concluded. “Nonetheless, this unilateral decision left the gates of the political arena wide open to bears and wolves.”

Egyptians are being denied free choice

German philosopher Immanuel Kant defined enlightenment as “man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage” that comes from his inability to use his mind without the guidance of others.

Today in Egypt, after a glorious revolution, the people are subject to constant attempts to deprive them of the right to choose without guidance and to impose on them a state of nonage, wrote human rights activist Amr Hamzawy in an opinion article for the Cairo-based paper Al Shorouk.

Egyptians are being pushed to accept the choices of the authorities without any independent and courageous use of reason, despite the country’s generally young population which has a tendency to reject that the “truth” be monopolised by religious or secular forces, he wrote.

There are still attempts at imposing on Egyptians one truth, one opinion, one hero and one candidate, in a manner that insults their intelligence and threatens them with new dark ages.

The reports of ongoing human rights violations at Egypt’s police stations and prisons keep emerging, and rights organisations are denied information about the detainees. Yet the ministry of interior keeps issuing statements denying any violations, and gets their apologists and mouthpieces to defame people behind such claims as the “war on terror” and “establishing order”, he concluded.

Future generations get rewards of Arab Spring

Predicting every ramification of the Arab Spring is no easy task. But Nacer Abdelrahman El Farra contended in the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi that one thing is certain: it will benefit future generations.

The rewards of the Arab Spring will probably not be felt by all people in the near future. All revolutions in history are sparked by one generation but the benefits are reaped by the next ones.

As a result of occasional setbacks, the current Arab generation could remain undecided as to whether the Arab Spring is a good thing.

But the invaluable fruits of this revolution will certainly be reaped by the generations to come, precisely in terms of justice, freedom and dignity.

They will be grateful for their predecessors’ sacrifices and disdainful of those who try to hinder people struggling for a better life.

There ought not be any concern about the uprisings because they occurred in societies that were beset with stagnation and a lack of vision. The revolutions are healthy, bringing into the open deep-rooted ills and laying bare people’s true colours, he added.

It is natural that the enemies of the Arab Spring promote doubt, despair and panic because they know they will lose if the revolution wins.

* Digest compiled by Translation Desk