Top preacher Sistani calls for new Iraq govt ‘as soon as possible’ to tackle corruption

Iraq’s top Shiite scholar Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on Friday for a government to be formed “as soon as possible.” The new ministers should tackle corruption and poor basic services, the preacher said in a Friday sermon delivered by a representative. Sistani also encouraged the incumbent government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to respond urgently to protesters’ demands for jobs and better basic services and jobs Reuters reports. “The current government must work hard urgently to implement citizens’ demands to reduce their suffering and misery,” Sistani’s representative said in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.