Several hundred Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Friday, just days after clashes between rival Shi’ite factions left 30 dead among supporters of religious and political leader Moqtada Sadr.
The demonstrators waved Iraqi flags and peacefully demanded a fundamental change in the political system, according to images broadcast by the Iraqiya state television channel.
Iraq remains without a government and without a prime minister since the legislative elections in October 2021, in particular because Shia politicians are unable to reach an agreement.
“The people want the fall of the regime,” protesters shouted in Baghdad’s Nissour Square, using one of the phrases of the ‘Arab Spring’. The protesters’ anger was directed at the political system they said had paralyzed Iraq, a country rich in oil but beset by a socio-economic crisis.
Some also shouted slogans against neighboring Iran, whose “interference” in Iraqi affairs is rejected by the protesters.
These protesters say they support the vast social movement that erupted in October 2019, when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to denounce the “corruption” of the political class and Iranian interference.
This movement sporadically organizes demonstrations in Baghdad. These protests this Friday take place in a context of great tension.
Earlier this week, armed clashes in Baghdad’s Green Zone between supporters of Moqtada Sadr and members of Hachd al-Chaabi, former pro-Iranian paramilitaries now integrated into regular troops, caused 30 deaths in pro-Sadr ranks.
The Shiite leader’s supporters stormed the perimeter housing embassies and ministries after Moqtada Sadr announced his “permanent reform” of politics.
Since the last legislative elections in Iraq, in October 2021, the country is still waiting for the appointment of a new head of government and the appointment of a new president.
At the end of July, the Sadrista Current rejected a candidacy for the position of prime minister presented by the Coordination Board. [pró-Irão].
On the one hand, Moqtada Sadr wants to dissolve parliament and hold early legislative elections; on the other, the pro-Iranian Shiite factions of the Coordination Framework want to impose their conditions for this hypothetical vote and demand that there be a transitional government in advance.
Source: Observadora
