Supporters of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad on Wednesday to protest against the opposition coalition’s candidacy for prime minister. The location is in the so-called Green Zone, the most protected in the capital.
Earlier, the current prime minister, Mustafa al-Kazimi, had asked protesters to withdraw from the region. He warned in a statement that security forces would ensure the protection of state institutions and foreign missions based there and would prevent “any breach of security and order.”
Before the invasion, police even fired tear gas and water jets to try to contain the protesters, who were breaking down roadblocks in series. After initially retreating, the protesters returned and managed to enter the building.
According to the Associated Press report, there were no lawmakers at the scene when the protesters entered, and security officials apparently allowed the protest to advance without offering much resistance.
Carrying Iraqi flags and shouting anti-Iran slogans, people walked across the tables and into the floor. A journalist from the AFP news agency saw a protester being carried, with minor injuries after the tear gas was fired.
The protest was called in opposition to the prime ministerial candidacy of Mohamed al-Sudani, 52. It was launched by an alliance of pro-Iranian Shia factions that includes former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s party and former paramilitaries.
Political stagnation is complete in Iraq, ten months after the October 2021 legislative elections. As on other occasions, negotiations to form a government and appoint a prime minister are protracted.
Iraq is a multi-confessional country in which the same figures have dominated public life since 2003, when President Saddam Hussein fell.
