At least two Iraqi officials on Thursday reportedly resigned from the Dawa party’s leadership body, the Shura Council, while three others said they would boycott its meetings. Dawa has been riddled with internal divisions for years as Nouri Al Maliki, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2014, tightened his grip and tied it closer to Iran. Mr Al Maliki is still head of the party. In a letter on social media and in local press, Mahmoud Al Mayali and Fadel Al Shara said they resigned from the council to protest against Mr Al Maliki’s drive to appoint his aide as the country’s new prime minister. <em>The National</em> has not been able to prove the veracity of the letter. Mr Al Maliki has been lobbying to appoint Mohammad Al Soudani as the new premier since departing Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned last month during anti-government protests. Iraq has been hit by nationwide demonstrations against political corruption and Iran’s influence in its politics. Haider Al Abadi, another former prime minister and Dawa party member, is said to be among those intending to boycott the council’s meetings. The council is also the party's consultative body. Others reportedly planning to abstain from the meetings include Sadiq Al Rakabi, a close ally of Mr Al Maliki, and senior party members Ali Al Adeeb and Tariq Al Najim. After the US invasion in 2003 the party, which was long banned under Saddam Hussein, emerged as a dominant force in Iraq. From the country’s first post-Saddam election in 2005 until 2018, Iraq’s prime ministers were Dawa party members. But internal divisions and widespread dissatisfaction with the political status quo has gradually eroded the party’s support. Mr Al Maliki was blamed for the widespread corruption and divisive policies that contributed to the collapse of the Iraqi military and the rise of ISIS. He lost the premiership to Mr Al Abadi after a 2014 election. Mr Al Maliki was blocked from winning a third term by Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani. The Dawa, or "Call", party was formed in 1957 to challenge the secular Arab nationalism then dominant in Iraq. Suppressed by the Baath Party in the 1970s and outlawed in the 1980s, most of the party’s leadership lived in exile in Iran until after the US invasion of 2003.
