Iraqi youths fight corruption
Even as protests in Baghdad and the southern provinces appear to have subsided for now, the fact is that Iraq finds itself in the eye of a political storm that threatens to bring down the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. More than 100 people were killed in six days of sporadic and spontaneous antigovernment protests, where riot police and the army are accused of using live ammunition against largely peaceful protesters. But there are indicators that infiltrators, including snipers, have targeted both protesters and the police.
The protests have rattled the government, which, after initially using force, announced that it was implementing steps to tackle unemployment, poor services and corruption. But it is anyone’s guess if such steps will pacify an angry public that is fed up with a skewed political system that has made Iraq — an oil-rich country — one of the most corrupt in the world. Corruption has become so institutionalized that it seems impossible to confront it when most lawmakers and politicians stand to benefit from the status quo. When it comes to lack of services, unemployment and poverty, both Sunnis and Shiites share the suffering.
Aside from a broken political system, Iraqis find themselves caught in a fight between Iran and the US over influence and control. Iran’s presence in Iraq has been growing and Tehran now has thousands of armed loyalists in the form of sectarian militias under the banner of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). These militias answer to Tehran and not to the Baghdad government, and efforts to put them under Ministry of Defense command have largely failed. Iranian leaders make no secret of their blatant interference in Iraqi affairs. In fact, as US influence wanes across the region, Tehran appears to have increased its presence in Iraq.
The geopolitical tussle between Iran and the US threatens to drag Iraq into becoming a battlefield.
While the recent protests centered on poor services, unemployment — which now averages 14 percent — and corruption, there were also chants denouncing Iran and its meddling in Iraqi affairs. But
Iraq’s deepening crisis has to do with its largely corrupt political elite as well. No prime minister can muster the strength to uproot corrupt officials without facing dire consequences.
The supreme Shiite religious authority under Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani has sided with the protesters’ demands and called for dialogue. But influential players such as cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr and former Prime Minister Haider Abadi have called for early elections. However, without fundamental changes in the political system, which continues to rely on quotas, and an end to the foreign interference in Iraqi affairs, change is unlikely to happen. For now, Iraqis are hostage to a system that is genetically dysfunctional and will continue to be so.
Like other Arab countries that are going through transition and crises, it is the youth that are the main drivers of protests and change. No government can afford to ignore their demands. The protests may have died down for now, but they will be back again as long as meaningful change fails to materialize.