What’s a sofa, compared to the real damage done?
Pictures of people looking worriedly at sofas have been going viral on the Internet in Iraq. A man looking at an orange three-seater, a girl at a brown canapé – all poking fun at the pictures that Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi posted after demonstrators stormed the Green Zone in Baghdad.
About 100,000 people breached the walls around Baghdad’s most secured area which houses the national parliament, Prime Minister Abadi’s office, foreign embassies, the homes of high officials and some hotels.
The protesters demanded that the parliament would finally make the change possible they had been calling to combat corruption and nepotism, and approve a cabinet of technocrats.
But members of parliament were not in favour of the change, as it would decrease the power of the parties and the flow of money into their pockets.
For that reason, the process that Prime Minister Abadi had been forced to pursue by a combination of dissatisfied Iraqi masses and foreign powers, has been slow.
Protesters had been sitting in the burning Iraqi sun for days on end, before the parliament late last month finally found a quorum to agree on six of the ministers on Abadi’s list of technocrats that are to pick the fight with corruption in the government.
They had already been waiting since last summer, to see some results of the measures the prime minister had pledged. All the while, they knew ministers, parliamentarians and party members were still profiting from oil incomes, projects, businesses and subsidies next to ‘bakshish’ (bribes), whilst outside the Green Zone, 13 years after the fall of Saddam there still is a lack of many things, most prominently services.
And then, when the parliament was supposed to resume the vote on the rest of the list on Saturday, the Kurdish group pulled out of the session, leaving it without the quorum. The session was adjourned until ‘next week’.
That was the last straw for the thousands waiting, who had earlier been confronted with the childish behaviour of their chosen representatives, throwing water bottles at the prime minister and others inside of what is supposed to be one the most sacred places in a democracy: the parliament.
Those same parliament members that were supposed to listen to them, work for them and solve their problems but had not done so. People had voted for them, expecting they would improve their situation, but the only thing they had seen them do is enrich themselves and block any attempts to force them to really represent their voters.
Thousands then heeded the call of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr – not even because they supported him politically, but because this youngest son of a rebel ayatollah killed by Saddam Hussein seemed to be the only one understanding and ventilating their frustration.
After pulling down part of the walls around the Green Zone, thousands found their way to that temple of democracy for which as a result of the conduct of the Iraqi parliament members the protesters had lost most respect.
Thousands piled into the parliament, sat on the president’s chair, stood on the benches, roamed through press rooms and offices, leaving behind paper, trash, chaos – but for such a big, angry and frustrated crowd the damage done was relatively small.
Remember, how during the Iran-Iraq war inhabitants of Basra fled their houses for the Iranian bombs, only returning to find them looted by the Iraqi army that was fighting on their own side – that very army that was known to be one of the most disciplined as disobeying orders was punished harshly.
Looting is of all times in Iraq, and now in Baghdad’s Green Zone was a group of disappointed people from the poor Shiite areas, who had all the reason to loot the very place that their chosen representatives had, in their opinion, already desecrated. And yet the worst marks they left behind were some ugly red spots resembling ketchup on a white, luxurious sofa.
What was Abadi thinking when he posted pictures of him looking with disgust at that sofa? Whatever message he was intending to send, it has boomeranged back to him. What are those red stains compared to the place’s downfall into a den of corruption and nepotism?
It shows that neither he nor most of the parliament members really understand the damage done to the trust of the Iraqi people in the past years. Nor do they grasp that they have to work hard to somehow regain that trust, if they do not want a mob rule to take over.
As I have heard of no speeches showing any understanding, I find it a sign of the resilience of the Iraqi people that they are using their humour for their message of disgust. For the moment, that is - because surely if the frustration of so many in Iraq is not heeded, much more damage will be done than just some stains on a white sofa.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
About 100,000 people breached the walls around Baghdad’s most secured area which houses the national parliament, Prime Minister Abadi’s office, foreign embassies, the homes of high officials and some hotels.
The protesters demanded that the parliament would finally make the change possible they had been calling to combat corruption and nepotism, and approve a cabinet of technocrats.
But members of parliament were not in favour of the change, as it would decrease the power of the parties and the flow of money into their pockets.
For that reason, the process that Prime Minister Abadi had been forced to pursue by a combination of dissatisfied Iraqi masses and foreign powers, has been slow.
Protesters had been sitting in the burning Iraqi sun for days on end, before the parliament late last month finally found a quorum to agree on six of the ministers on Abadi’s list of technocrats that are to pick the fight with corruption in the government.
They had already been waiting since last summer, to see some results of the measures the prime minister had pledged. All the while, they knew ministers, parliamentarians and party members were still profiting from oil incomes, projects, businesses and subsidies next to ‘bakshish’ (bribes), whilst outside the Green Zone, 13 years after the fall of Saddam there still is a lack of many things, most prominently services.
And then, when the parliament was supposed to resume the vote on the rest of the list on Saturday, the Kurdish group pulled out of the session, leaving it without the quorum. The session was adjourned until ‘next week’.
That was the last straw for the thousands waiting, who had earlier been confronted with the childish behaviour of their chosen representatives, throwing water bottles at the prime minister and others inside of what is supposed to be one the most sacred places in a democracy: the parliament.
Those same parliament members that were supposed to listen to them, work for them and solve their problems but had not done so. People had voted for them, expecting they would improve their situation, but the only thing they had seen them do is enrich themselves and block any attempts to force them to really represent their voters.
Thousands then heeded the call of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr – not even because they supported him politically, but because this youngest son of a rebel ayatollah killed by Saddam Hussein seemed to be the only one understanding and ventilating their frustration.
After pulling down part of the walls around the Green Zone, thousands found their way to that temple of democracy for which as a result of the conduct of the Iraqi parliament members the protesters had lost most respect.
Thousands piled into the parliament, sat on the president’s chair, stood on the benches, roamed through press rooms and offices, leaving behind paper, trash, chaos – but for such a big, angry and frustrated crowd the damage done was relatively small.
Remember, how during the Iran-Iraq war inhabitants of Basra fled their houses for the Iranian bombs, only returning to find them looted by the Iraqi army that was fighting on their own side – that very army that was known to be one of the most disciplined as disobeying orders was punished harshly.
Looting is of all times in Iraq, and now in Baghdad’s Green Zone was a group of disappointed people from the poor Shiite areas, who had all the reason to loot the very place that their chosen representatives had, in their opinion, already desecrated. And yet the worst marks they left behind were some ugly red spots resembling ketchup on a white, luxurious sofa.
What was Abadi thinking when he posted pictures of him looking with disgust at that sofa? Whatever message he was intending to send, it has boomeranged back to him. What are those red stains compared to the place’s downfall into a den of corruption and nepotism?
It shows that neither he nor most of the parliament members really understand the damage done to the trust of the Iraqi people in the past years. Nor do they grasp that they have to work hard to somehow regain that trust, if they do not want a mob rule to take over.
As I have heard of no speeches showing any understanding, I find it a sign of the resilience of the Iraqi people that they are using their humour for their message of disgust. For the moment, that is - because surely if the frustration of so many in Iraq is not heeded, much more damage will be done than just some stains on a white sofa.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.