The Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who in the past decade has been both an anti-American insurgency leader and a behind-the-scenes power broker, is not expected to be personally in attendance when Iraq's leaders sketch out a new government Monday. But with his followers standing to gain control of powerful government posts, his influence is likely to become apparent in many facets of Iraqi public life, from the halls of Parliament to the tomato farms and marshlands here in southeastern Iraq. This province was a stronghold for al-Sadr until sweeps by the Iraqi Army in 2008 helped break the grip of his militia forces, and political change ousted his ally from the governorship here last year. Now, the winds are shifting again, and the area has become a stage for al-Sadr's remarkable political resurgence in Iraq after years of schism, military defeats and al-Sadr's own flight to Iran. Al-Sadr's followers are pushing for control of the governor's seat here in Maysan province again, one of several positions they hope to gain as rewards for joining the political coalition that will keep their one-time enemy, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in office after the months-long wrangling that followed March's inconclusive elections. That the party, still Iraq's most fiercely populist and anti-American bloc, has come this far is a reflection of the Sadrists' efforts in recent years to recast themselves as maturing politicians who can actually govern and deliver badly needed services. 'We want to show the world we are a modern people, an intellectual people,' said Fathal Namaa, the group's political director in Maysan. 'We don't want to be radical Islamists. I tell my supporters, don't dress all in black or carry weapons.' They are tracing a path mapped out by militant groups like Hezbollah or Hamas, which built popular support by augmenting their armed wings with social and political groups that ran schools and hospitals and handed out jobs. But there are also remaining fears, among Americans and Iraqis, that the militia that helped bring al-Sadr to power initially -- and was responsible for much of the sectarian violence that threatened to tear the country apart -- could again be mobilized against his enemies, particularly after the American military finishes its withdrawal. 'We know there are going to be Sadrist ministries,' said an American diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic ground rules. 'We want to make it work. But we will also be true to our own principles, and they may not want to work with us.' The Sadrists are now embracing -- at least in public -- the sunny tones of national unity and partnership, referring to Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers as brothers, not foes. They send out daily news releases to announce street-cleaning projects, new orphanages and community centers. And at al-Sadr's behest, party leaders said that some newly elected lawmakers had been sent to Lebanon and Turkey to attend classes in public speaking and political etiquette. 