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Sadr holds referendum on Iraq PM Sadr holds referendum on Iraq PM
(about 10 hours later)
The Iraqi political grouping of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is holding its own referendum on who should be the country's prime minister. The political grouping of the radical Iraqi Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr, is holding its own referendum on who should be the country's prime minister.
The bloc Mr Sadr belongs to came third in the election on 7 March. Whoever it backs stands a good chance of leading the next government. The al-Sadr bloc is part of the Iraqi National Alliance, which came third in the parliamentary election on 7 March.
None of the four alliances that won big parliamentary blocs in the vote can form a government on their own. None of the four alliances that won the most seats can form a government on their own. Iyad Allawi Iraqiya bloc came first with 91 out of 325 seats.
Since the vote there has been little progress towards forming a government. Since the vote, there has been little progress towards forming a government.
The referendum is expected to run for two days. Representatives of Moqtada al-Sadr said the candidate who won a majority of votes in the referendum would get the backing of the 40 of his supporters who won seats in parliament.
"The political situation is complicated and [Moqtada Sadr] has always said that the best advisers are the Iraqi people," Hazem al-Araji, one of the movement's leaders, told the AFP newsagency. The referendum, which has no legal authority, was open to all Iraqis, they added. Voting is scheduled to continue until Saturday.
The two biggest contenders, led by the incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and the secular challenger Iyad Allawi, who came out narrowly ahead, are highly unlikely to work together. "The political situation is complicated and [Moqtada Sadr] has always said that the best advisers are the Iraqi people," Hazem al-Araji, one of the movement's leaders, told the AFP news agency.
There are five candidates on the ballot, all of them Shia politicians There are five candidates on the ballot, all of them Shia politicians class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/8601292.stm">The key Sadrist referendum
That leaves the third-ranking bloc, the Iraqi National Coalition, which has 70 seats, as the king-makers. Moqtada Sadr's faction won 40 seats, the biggest share of that coalition's seats. Correspondents say the two main contenders - Mr Allawi, a former prime minister, and the incumbent, Nouri Maliki, whose State of Law alliance won 89 seats - are highly unlikely to work together.
The referendum offers a choice of five candidates, all of them Shia Muslims - Mr Maliki, Mr Allawi, former PM Ibrahim Jaafari, Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi and Jaafar Sadr, the son of an assassinated ayatollah. That leaves the the Shia-led Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which won 70 seats in total, as the king-makers, they add. The al-Sadr bloc won the majority of its seats.
The Sadrist movement is clearly against giving Mr Maliki a second term, and cynics have suggested the referendum is a way of formalising that position as the will of the people rather than the pursuit of a personal or political grudge, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Baghdad. The referendum offers a choice of five candidates, all of them Shias - Mr Maliki, Mr Allawi, former prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari, Vice-President Adel Abdel Mahdi, and Jaafar Mohammed Baqir Sadr, the cousin of Moqtada Sadr and son of the revered Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadiq Sadr, who was assassinated during the rule of Saddam Hussein.
The Sadr movement has not forgiven Mr Maliki for crushing its Mehdi Army militia in Basra and Baghdad two years ago. The al-Sadr bloc is clearly against giving Mr Maliki a second term, and cynics have suggested the referendum is a way of formalising that position as the will of the people rather than the pursuit of a personal or political grudge, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Baghdad.
Moqtada Sadr has not forgiven Mr Maliki for crushing his Mehdi Army militia in Basra and Baghdad two years ago, our correspondent says.
On Thursday, Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council - also part of the Iraqi National Alliance - said he would not join a governing coalition that did not include Mr Allawi.
Al-Iraqiyya (Iraqi National Movement): Nationalist bloc led by former PM Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia, includes Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and senior Sunni politician Saleh al-MutlaqState of Law: Led by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his Shia Islamist Daawa Party, the alliance purportedly cuts across religious and tribal lines, includes some Sunni tribal leaders, Shia Kurds, Christians and independentsIraqi National Alliance: Shia-led bloc includes followers of the radical cleric, Moqtada Sadr, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, and the Fadhilah Party, along with ex-PM Ibrahim Jaafari and Ahmad ChalabiKurdish alliance: Coalition dominated by the two parties administering Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region - the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by President Jalal TalabaniAl-Iraqiyya (Iraqi National Movement): Nationalist bloc led by former PM Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia, includes Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and senior Sunni politician Saleh al-MutlaqState of Law: Led by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his Shia Islamist Daawa Party, the alliance purportedly cuts across religious and tribal lines, includes some Sunni tribal leaders, Shia Kurds, Christians and independentsIraqi National Alliance: Shia-led bloc includes followers of the radical cleric, Moqtada Sadr, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, and the Fadhilah Party, along with ex-PM Ibrahim Jaafari and Ahmad ChalabiKurdish alliance: Coalition dominated by the two parties administering Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region - the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by President Jalal Talabani