The Sadr faction said participants in the pro-Maliki demonstration staged in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square were actually paid to take part, Al Jazeera reported on Friday. This is while demonstrations and rallies condemning Maliki’s policies continue in six provinces across the country.
Many politicians, including the parliamentary faction affiliated to the Sadr movement, believe these demonstrations were not spontaneous and people were in fact paid to take part. These politicians say Maliki has used these people as opposing those who are demonstrating in numerous all over Iraq.
“Today’s demonstration was not a spontaneous rally. It was a demonstration which the other party organized and took place with participants being paid. I say with the utmost regret that this demonstration took place by paying the participants. Nobody should take advantage of the Iraqi people,” Sadrist MP Baha Al Araji said.