Million-man demonstration expected in Iraqi capital, southern provinces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Thousands of Iraqis are expected to take to the streets in the country’s capital of Baghdad and several southern provinces on Friday to demand better services from the al-Dawa Islamic Party-led government.

Kurdistan 24 correspondent Soran Kamaran, reporting from Baghdad, said the Iraqi government had deployed a significant amount of military and police forces in various areas of the capital, particularly, around Tahrir Square.

Activists have called for a million-man demonstration as the Iraqi government prepares extra forces in anticipation of the protests at Tahrir Square and other areas of the Iraqi capital, Kamaran said.

The activists are mostly relying on Telegram as the Iraqi government has blocked the most widely used social media outlet, Facebook, across the country.

Protests are also expected to be held in eight other provinces in southern Iraq. Demonstrators demand an improvement in public services such as water and electricity as well as an end to unemployment. 

Sheikh Abu Karar al-Abadi, the representative of the protesters in Basra Province, told Kurdistan 24 during a live interview that they have formed a delegation to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and deliver the demands of the protesters to the government.

Abu Karar said the people’s demands are legitimate and must be respected to avoid an escalation of tensions.

Shwan Jabari, a Kurdistan 24 correspondent in Basra, said the protests in the area are ongoing, adding that people had gathered in the city center because the government has yet to respond to their demands.

The Iraqi Security Media Center, meanwhile, announced on Thursday that the security situation in Baghdad and other provinces is under control. It added that protests should only be held with approval and facilitation from the government and just in designated areas.

In a tweet on Thursday, influential Iraqi Shia cleric and leader of the Sairoon Coalition Muqtada al-Sadr called on the political parties in Iraq to suspend talks over the formation of the next Iraqi government.

Sadr, using a hash-tag which translates to “the people’s revolution is a right,” also called for the formation of a serious working cell within the government in coordination with the protesters to implement their demands.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany