BAGHDAD: Two rival blocs are holding competing sit-ins in Baghdad, ramping up tensions in conflict-weary Iraq, but shopkeeper Mustafa says he’s more worried about how he’s going to make a living.

“We have no work,” said the man in his forties as a lone fan pumped hot summer air around his clothes store.

The two camps are “defending their personal interests”, he charged, declining to provide his surname due to security concerns.

Political deadlock has left Iraq without a new government, president or prime minister following general elections 10 months ago.

Supporters of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr, who once led an anti-US militia and who has millions of devoted followers, stormed Iraq’s parliament late last month and began a sit-in, first inside the building and then in its grounds.

They were angered after their Shia rivals, the pro-Iran Coordination Frame­work, nominated a candidate they saw as unacceptable for prime minister.

The Sad­rists are now demanding early elections.

The Framework brings together the party of ex-prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, a longtime Sadr foe, and the Hashed al-Shaabi, a pro-Iran former paramilitary network now integrated into the security forces.

The alliance says it wants a new government as quickly as possible, and its supporters on Friday began their own sit-in to press for that demand.

Framework supporters have set up tents on a road leading to the Green Zone, which is home to government and diplomatic buildings — including parliament.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2022