Four days of furious protests that met live fire from security forces have left 72 people dead and hundreds wounded across Iraq. The civil unrest has escalated into the oi-rich country’s worst outbreak of instability since it declared the defeat of Sunni jihadis Isis in 2017. It poses a severe challenge to prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s one-year-old government. The apparently leaderless demonstrations are protesting against a lack of jobs and services, but also endemic corruption that is perceived to reach the top of government.
Politicians are “stealing, stealing from the year 2003 until now” said Yousif Emad, an unemployed anthropology graduate. “Enough. We need solutions.” Pressure was heaped on Mr Abdul Mahdi on Friday by populist Shia politician and former militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, who called for the government to step down and for fresh elections. His parliamentary bloc Sairoon, which won the largest number of seats in last year’s elections, said it would boycott parliament when it meets on Saturday to discuss the protesters’ demands.
Iraq’s most important Shia religious figure Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani blamed the government for the protests, but did not call for the administration’s resignation. Iraq regularly sees street protests, with people expressing frustration at their inability to influence a political system seen as remote and corrupt. But these demonstrations, apparently not organised by any political party, quickly spread from Baghdad to other Iraqi cities at an intensity and speed which took security forces and the government by surprise .