THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

The current government is changing. Since the founding of the present nation of Iraq in 1921 every government that has ruled the country has, in the end, been overthrown. The present government has not yet been officially overthrown by the supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, but they know who they need to listen to if they want to continue.

Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced their withdrawal from Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Sunday, packing up and leaving just a day after they stormed parliament and began a sit-in.

Addressing the demonstrators, Akhlas al-Obaidi, a protest organizer, urged people to go home to give political decision-making a chance and to commemorate the death of 8th-century Imam Mousa al-Kadhim. She said they would return Friday to make a “major stand.”

Earlier in the day, the demonstrators had picnicked and chanted against politicians they deemed corrupt, while also enjoying what was for some their first sight of Baghdad’s most iconic landmarks. The Green Zone is home to parliament, ministries and embassies and has been sealed off by blast walls and checkpoints for 13 years.

Not far away, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi held a meeting with the president, the parliamentary speaker and other party leaders to try to steer the country out of the political turmoil, which is threatening to unseat him. A statement released after their meeting said they planned “intense” meetings between political parties in the coming days to work on reforms. It also condemned the ransacking of parliament and ordered that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

The withdrawal of the protesters gives Abadi some breathing space, but he has struggled to implement any meaningful political changes despite months of trying. Sadr is demanding an end to a quota system set up after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion under which political positions are divided up based on sect and ethnicity. Abadi has tried to put in place a technocratic government, but his attempts to reshuffle his cabinet have been hampered by bickering in a split parliament.

Patience ran out Saturday as Sadr’s followers entered the parliament building. The cleric, who led an armed opposition against U.S. troops during the Iraq war, has a strong following on the street and described the events as the beginning of a “revolution.”

It is the beginning and it remains to be seen how it will play out, but there has been a transfer of power. How soon will we see who now holds it?