Demonstrators cling to the demand of "overthrowing the regime," not changing faces

Demonstrators cling to the demand of "overthrowing the regime," not changing faces



30-10-2019 03:58 PM

Baghdad / News

By gathering in Tahrir Square and in several southern cities, Iraqis have broken the curfew over the past two nights and are watching political maneuvers, stressing that they will accept nothing less than the departure of all officials.

The fate of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi is still in the hands of his parliamentary partners who are debating a no-confidence motion, with protests widening in the street, which continues to demand the "overthrow of the regime" after 240 people died in demonstrations and violence.

Overnight, the leader of the Badr Organization and the Fatah Alliance Hadi al-Amiri, who had previously backed Abdul Mahdi, said he agreed to "work with" Sadr's leader Moqtada al-Sadr, who since early October has called for the resignation of a government he helped train a year ago.

Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday urged al-Amiri to act to avoid "turning Iraq into Syria or Yemen," two countries where revolts against power have turned into civil war.

On Tuesday night, Sadr and Amri, the two main partners of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, agreed that they would cooperate to "withdraw confidence" from the independent prime minister, which the street has been demanding to overthrow since early October.

But Sadr returned on Wednesday to stress to Amiri that action must be taken, because the delay "will make Iraq Syria and Yemen," where the revolutions of the peoples of the two countries into civil war.

The fate of Abdul-Mahdi on Wednesday, in the hands of parliament, which is still open until further notice.

The parliament called on Abdul-Mahdi to come to parliament "immediately", what may turn into an accountability session and a vote of no confidence, according to several MPs.

But the prime minister has yet to comment on the call, and parliament has not set a date for lawmakers to meet to resume its session.

But Atheer Malik, who came from Diwaniya to join the protesters in Tahrir Square, considered that "the people are the source of the authorities! It is he who brought all these to power."

"They want to replace Abdul Mahdi with someone from another party who will be like him," the 39-year-old said.

Hussein Nouri, another 55-year-old protester, said: "We want to restore our country they stole from us."

He pointed out Alaa Khair (63 years) that "because of them we have a shortage of schools and hospitals, so they have to resign all and form a government of national rescue."

Between the parliament and the people today, the bridge of the Republic, which separates the Green Zone where the government headquarters, from Tahrir Square, which has become a center of movement. There, security forces showered demonstrators from time to time with tear gas, to discourage them from progress.

Since the beginning of the popular movement on October 1 in Iraq to protest the lack of basic services and widespread unemployment and the inability of the political authorities to find solutions to the living crisis, 240 people have been killed and more than 8,000 wounded, many of them with live bullets.

Demonstrations also witnessed a precedent in dealing with violence, with 157 martyrs killed in the first wave between the first and sixth of October, and 83 martyrs so far in the second round, which began last Thursday evening.

Observers believe that Abdul Mahdi, an independent, not supported by the party or the popular, is still hostage to the leaders of the parties that brought him to power and protesters accuse them of failing to provide jobs and services, and to fill the pockets of officials with corruption funds, which caused the evaporation of more than 450 billion dollars in 16 years, according to figures Official.

The researcher at the International Crisis Institute, Maria Fantapi, said the resignation or dismissal of Abdul Mahdi "will be seen as a turning point by the demonstrators."

But this could lead to a "break" for the movement rather than an "end to the movement," Vantabee said. By occupying squares in the country's big cities, Iraqis "assert their presence" in the face of their officials.

The same researcher stressed that "future elections according to the same electoral law, will bring the same faces to parliament and lead to the same alliances (...) to find a prime minister," in a divided parliament where members exchange allegations of loyalty to Iran or the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

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