Sadrists celebrate unexpected Baghdad victory
Muqtada al-Sadr cobbled together a coalition between his Shiite Sadrist movement under the Jawabna (The Answer) slogan and the Communist Party of Iraq to achieve an unexpected preliminary Iraqi parliamentary election victory for Baghdad province early Monday morning.
The "Marching Towards Reform" or Sayirun Coalition hit the streets immediately after the news was announced.
They gathered on Tharir Square in downtown Baghdad, where cleric Sadr has held fiery anti-government speeches for years, nearly every Friday.
The list won the most votes in Iraq's most populated province, its capital Baghdad, beating out incumbent Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's list and those of two other Shiite former PMs, along with other prominent Shiite lists, according to preliminary results released by Iraq's independent election body.
The celebrating Sadrists set off fireworks, honked horns, and waved flags and banners.
