Al-Sadr announces a temporary move to opposition 

Shafaq News/ The maverick Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced he will be heading toward opposition after the failure of the Iraqi political forces, including the Sadrist movement, in forming a government.

Al-Sadr said in a statement, "I am honored that the lawmakers affiliated with me are the biggest bloc in the history of Iraq. I am honored I successfully formed the largest trans-quota bloc. I am honored I depended upon myself, not external parties. I am honored I did not have to resort to Judiciary to sustain the needs of the people and form the government. However, because of the internal and external squawking on myself and the notion of 'national majority government', we were not able to make it. It is an entitlement of the Independent forces."

"The parties that pretend to be independent did not support us. Therefore, we have only one choice left: moving to opposition for thirty days," he said.

"If the parties and political blocs, including those we allied with them, it would be great. If not, we will have another decision we announce later."