Baghdad meets with parties in effort to quell national protests
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and leading political parties on Monday affirmed Iraqis' right to public protest, while at the same time blaming "seditious elements" for having a part in mass demonstrations sparked by poor public services and crippling unemployment.
Popular discontent over chronic power shortages in a country where summer temperatures often reach 50 degrees Celsius has caused thousands to take to the street in recent days.
Among the leaders attending a meeting called Monday night in Baghdad to deal with the situation was the president of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq Humam Hamoudi, Fatih coalition leader Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Al-Qarrar coalition Osama al-Nujaifi, and leader of the al-Hikma coalition Ammar al-Hakim, as well as representatives of various other parties from across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
According to a statement issued by Abadi's office, participants in the meeting agreed that Iraqis had the right to demonstrate, but rejected “abuses that have taken place on public and private properties,” as well as attacks on security forces that had previously “liberated” Iraq from terrorism.
The demonstrations, strongest in the provinces of Basra, Dhi Qar, Maysan, Karbala, Babil, and Baghdad, are currently in their second week and have sometimes been violent. Casualties are being reported in the hundreds and as caused primarily by Iraqi security forces.
All parties stressed “the support of the security forces’ quest to maintain safety and order,” and the need to get “provincial approval” for any protests. Such approvals, if issued, would determine the time and place of the demonstration, the organizing group, and a pledge that the protest would be peaceful.
Abadi said he has ordered security forces not to use live ammunition against peaceful protesters but made sure to note that Iraq does not tolerate "seditious elements."
On Friday, Iraq's top Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani expressed his solidarity with the protesters and said they faced “a severe shortage of public services.” Even though Sistani has no actual government authority, his proclamations are extremely influential among millions of Shia Iraqis.
Abadi's office highlighted the need to expedite the formation of “a committee to follow up on government procedures to implement rapid reforms to provide urgent solutions to the services and administrative issues” and “fight corruption,” pledges no doubt familiar to the Iraqi populace.
Despite the government’s claims of efforts to root out widespread fraud and mismanagement in state institutions, Iraq still remains high on Transparency International’s list of national levels of corruption. According to the group's 2017 Corruption Index, Iraq ranks 166, the tenth most corrupt country out of a total of 176.
The unemployment rate among Iraqis is officially 10.8 percent, but since more than half of Iraqis are under the age of 24, this makes unemployment twice as high among young people.
On Monday, the Ministry of Electricity announced it had failed to convince Iran to resume its sale of electric power to Iraq, now suspended due to non-payment.
Editing by John J. Catherine
