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Iraq
“Iran does not rule Iraq,” reads a paper held by many protesters in Baghdad on September 2, 2022. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - October (Tishreen) movement, which led large anti-government demonstrations in 2019, held fresh protests in Baghdad on Friday, adding the dissolution of the parliament to their previous demands. This comes days after weeks-long protests by the Sadrists in the capital city came to an end.
The Tishreen protests which were held in Baghdad in October 2019 and lasted for several months demanded an end to the governance system which has been in place since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, an end to corruption, better basic services, and employment. The protesters were met with violence and repression from the security forces and pro-Iran militia groups that left at least 600 dead and thousands wounded.
The protests toppled the government of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, ignited reforms to the electoral law, and forced the October 10, 2021 parliamentary election. Tishreen is seen as the largest protest movement since 2003.
Hundreds of Tishreen protesters held fresh demonstrations in Baghdad’s Nisour Square Friday afternoon, carrying anti-Iran slogans and demanding the dissolution of the current parliament.
“Iran does not rule Iraq,” read a paper held by many protesters.
Their demands were similar to those recently made by the Sadrist Movement.
The Sadrist Movement, which was the winner of the October vote and gained 73 seats, withdrew from the parliament in June after failing to form a government with the rival Coordination Framework which mostly consists of pro-Iran political parties.
Sadrists have held dozens of protests since the results of the vote were announced later in October. Recently, they stormed the parliament building and staged sit-ins there, and later they stormed the Republican Palace. The protests turned violent on Monday after the Sadrist Movement’s militia group clashed with armed groups close to the Coordination Framework. After about 24 hours of clashes, which killed over 30 people, the movement’s leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, ordered an end to the sit-ins and protests in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone and announced his “definitive retirement” from political life.
“We will not allow the Coordination Framework to form a government,” a Tishreen protester told Rudaw’s Halkawt Aziz on Friday.
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