Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

:: On Friday, and in an unprecedented statement made by him about politics, Iraq’s Shiite figure, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, stated that Iraqis should prohibit the return of corrupt people to power, those who have failed the country in the past amid the expected election on May 12th.

During the Friday sermon in the southern city of Kerbela, the representative of the Supreme leader Ayatollah al Sistani stated that: “The voters should inspect the professional achievements of the candidates and the head of the lists, mainly those who were in office during the past sessions.

He also stated that he is keeping the same distance from all the candidates of the May 12th elections.

For Seven days, the Iraqi political scenes were awaiting Sistani’s statement during the Friday’s sermon to explain the “the experimenter does not experiment”, in which he advised against candidates who enjoy external support, whether financial or in the media as well as candidates who were in office and have wasted public money in an unprecedented way.

The spokesperson stressed the need to keep away from foreign agendas while inspecting the professional careers of the candidates and heads of lists. Especially, since many of them held positions in previous sessions, adding that Najaf confirms that it stands at the same distance from all of the candidates and lists and does not support any person or party and that it is important to not allow people who exploit ideas such as conservatism or any other that might affect the Iraqis.

Special sources told Al Arabiya.net that a number of Shiite candidates are preparing their withdrawal from the elections.

Political analyst Abdul Allah al-Ansari said that Sistani’s statement carried clear messages to the Iraqi people not to opt for lists with relations, foreign support and other lists whose presidents were at the top of the power hierarchy such as ministers or those who were in governmental positions in the past.

Al Ansari further explained that: “If we want to draw the conclusions from the statement, we would notice that al Sistani advised against the majority of the important lists, because most of those who are on top of them have held positions in all the previous elections during the past 15 years.”

Al-Ansari continued: “Unlike the previous point which tackled the majority of the lists, the lists that received aid and external assistance are known. For example, the Fath list of the Popular Mobilization militia is known for its Iranian orientation especially as the Basij commander and the Iranian ambassador attend meetings with their leaders in Baghdad and Tehran.”