‘The more the regime shoots, the more the people react’
Demonstrations seem to be growing and attracting people from more walks of life
The Iraqi government announced a midnight-todawn curfew in Baghdad on Monday, as it struggled to contain growing anti-government protests that have gained support around the country, including from a leading Shiite cleric who has called for early elections. At least 18 people were shot dead in Karbala.
Prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr said in a statement the government should stop oppressing its citizens, initiate reforms or face removal.
“Resign before you are obliged to do so, or reform before you are removed,” Al Sadr said, adding that protests in the country had succeeded in putting pressure on the corrupt.
Parliament meets
Iraq’s Parliament met for the first time since the protests restarted — over corruption, unemployment and official accountability — and its first act was to dissolve provincial councils that have been widely criticised as corrupt. Lawmakers also pledged to reduce the salaries of high-ranking officials, including of members of Parliament themselves.
It was not clear, however, how much the public was paying attention to anything the government was doing or saying. Despite considerable efforts to repel the protesters — including with pepper spray, tear gas and sound bombs — they have persisted for days, and now seem to be growing and attracting people from more walks of life.
On Monday, the demonstrators in Baghdad included university students, professionals and government employees, as well as large numbers of unemployed people. The demonstrators called for ousting the politicians who run Iraq, many of whom they accuse of having ties to Iran, and changing Iraq’s system of government, which they see as corrupt and unrepresentative. “This is the first time in Iraq that I have seen anything like this,” Jassim Mohammad, 43, a paramedic with the Red Crescent, said of the protests. “The more the government shoots, the more the reaction of the people.”
Over the past week, dozens of people have been killed as security forces cracked down on demonstrators and as fighting broke out between competing groups. On Monday tuktuks delivered demonstrators to the front lines and careened away from tear gas, often with injured protesters crammed into the back seat.
One tuk-tuk driver said he had made 400 trips Monday, starting from just after dawn all of them at no charge. Many drivers said they saw themselves as responsible for ferrying the wounded to ambulances, which were parked farther back from the front lines.
Resign before you are obliged to do so, or reform before you are removed.” Moqtada Al Sadr | Iraqi cleric