Thousands of supporters of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday answered his call to demonstrate in Baghdad to pressure the Iraqi government to carry out stalled reforms.
Iraq has been hit by weeks of political turmoil surrounding Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s efforts to replace the Cabinet of party-affiliated ministers with a government of technocrats.
The proposed changes have been opposed by powerful political parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds, and parliament has repeatedly failed to vote on a new Cabinet list.
The demonstrators, many of them carrying Iraqi flags, marched from Tahrir Square in central Baghdad to an entrance to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the government is headquartered, chanting that politicians “are all thieves.”
Security forces had earlier blocked off all the roads leading to the square with razor wire and concrete blocks.
“Our participation in the demonstration aims to reject this government for being sectarian,” protester Abu Ali al-Zaidi said.
Key government posts have for years been shared out based on political and sectarian quotas, a practice that demonstrators want ended.
The government “did not bring the country and Iraqis anything but poverty and killing,” said al-Zaidi, a 47-year-old taxi driver who traveled from Maysan Province in the south to take part in the protest.
Sadr, the scion of a powerful clerical family who in earlier years raised a rebellion against US-led forces and commanded a feared militia, called for a mass demonstration yesterday.
Many of his supporters have already been taking part in a two-week long sit-in in the capital.
Yesterday’s demonstration came as Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi said he would seek to hold a session to vote on a new Cabinet.
However, lawmakers who have sought to remove Juburi from office said that they would not take part, meaning the required quorum may not be reached.
Parliament has been paralyzed for weeks by the dispute over the Cabinet, with lawmakers holding a sit-in, brawling in the chamber, seeking to sack the speaker and repeatedly failing to move forward on the issue of new ministers.
Additional reporting by AP
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