ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi was forced to leave Al-Qadisiya University in the southeastern Iraqi province of Wasit on Tuesday after students waged demonstrations against him at the campus, on the heels of multiple protests against current Iraqi election law.
Later, protesting students and Abadi’s guards clashed, according to a Rudaw source from inside the campus, adding that the students were chanting against Abadi and throwing bricks at him, forcing the prime minister to leave the campus immediately.
The force defending Abadi used bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters, causing 50 people to suffer breathing difficulties, according to the source. After the incident, ambulances arrived on the scene and rushed the affected students to the hospital.
The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said security forces later took measures to avoid media agencies broadcasting the incident.
Abadi’s trip to the Wasit province was to visit the university, meet with families who had lost relatives in the fight against ISIS, and to attend a Wasit Council of Ministers meeting.
According to a statement from the PM after the visit, he was calling on universities remain separate from political conflicts. The release stated Abadi said the educational aspect is essential in defeating ISIS.
He added that those who have a problem with the prime minister should direct complaints at him without affecting the security of the country and thus distracting from the battle [against ISIS].
Abadi also visited the families of Iraqi forces who were killed against ISIS, expressing that their sacrifices were able to “liberate the occupied.”
Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr released a statement, calling the assault on Abadi’s convoy a breach against the prestige of the state and also that people in Wasit province should refrain from all peaceful protests until further notice. The release stated the protests do not represent [Sadrists] and may even be hostile to it.
Protestors, many of them loyal to Sadr, have called in recent months on the parliament to dissolve the Iraqi High Electoral Commission (IHEC) while the country prepares for April’s crucial parliamentary and provincial elections.
The IHEC, which is seen as an independent polling body, has members that are affiliated with nearly all political parties across the Iraqi spectrum, including several Kurdish members. Sadr has in the past cast doubt on the independence of the commission and stated that “no election are free and fair under the current IHEC.”
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