Thousands of protesters re-invaded a fortified area of Baghdad, where embassies and government buildings are located, and entered the Iraqi Parliament on Saturday (30). The act, by supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, represents an escalation in the country’s political crisis, which had already shown signs of worsening on Wednesday (27), when a similar move took place.
In this second invasion, however, at least 70 people, including protesters and police, were injured after clashes. Al-Sadr’s supporters, who once again broke down concrete barriers to advance to the so-called green zone, threw stones at the agents, who responded with tear gas and stun bombs to try to disperse the act.
According to the report of doctors and security authorities, some of the injured had serious injuries – there is no official information about their health status.
“We are calling for a government free of corruption in Iraq, this is the demand of the people,” a protester, identified as Abu Foad, told Reuters in front of the already stormed parliament building.
The group carried pictures of Al-Sadr and Iraqi flags and shouted at rival groups. Part also went to the headquarters of the Supreme Court, which the cleric accuses of political interference in order to prevent his party from forming a government in the country.
Since last October’s election, Iraq has been experiencing a record period of immobility, with more than 290 days without a president and an effective prime minister – Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who took office in 2020 after a series of protests led to the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi, remains in office as a kind of buffer prime minister, while political forces do not reach an agreement.
The election months ago confirmed the party linked to Al-Sadr as the country’s biggest force, but the cleric withdrew his 74 lawmakers (out of a total of 329 in the House) from the scene last month after failing to form a government that excluded Shiite rivals, backed by Iran and accused of links to paramilitary groups.
These parties inherited the seats, but the cleric indicated that he could mobilize his support base – which includes a militia of his own – for protests if a coalition he disapproved of was formed. His supporters then expressed their rejection of the names of Nouri al-Maliki, accused of being corrupt, and Mohammed al-Sudani, seen as the ex-premier’s deputy.
Since the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has had a system whereby Shi’ite parties, which represent the country’s majority demographic, have been elected prime minister; the Kurds, the Presidency; and the Sunnis, the head of Parliament. The current crisis also involves the main Kurdish parties, which do not agree on the nomination for the presidency.
The paralysis left Iraq without a 2022 budget, delaying economic reforms and infrastructure investments that analysts said were crucial for the country to overcome decades of conflict. The population says that the situation exacerbates a picture of unemployment, although the scenario is one of growing revenues, amid the rise in oil prices, and relative peace since the defeat of the Islamic State.
Before that stalemate, the longest period without a head of state or cabinet was in 2010, when Nouri al-Maliki won a second term after 289 days of negotiations.
