Ball in parliament’s court after Abdul Mahdi resigns
▶ Demonstrators in the country’s south said they want the government to quit over corruption
Iraq’s Cabinet yesterday approved Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s decision to step down after a call from the country’s top Shiite cleric for parliament to consider changing the government.
Mr Abdul Mahdi called an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet yesterday morning to “discuss the resignation of His Excellency and the Government and submit it to the House of Representatives”, a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
“The prime minister calls on the House of Representatives to find appropriate solutions at its next session, and called on members of the government to continue their work until the formation of the new government,” it said.
Mr Abdul Mahdi announced his intention to step down on Friday, saying he would submit a formal letter to parliament “requesting my resignation” in keeping with the wishes expressed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani in his Friday sermon.
His decision did little to appease Iraqis who have staged anti-government protests since early October. Demonstrations continued in Baghdad and across the south yesterday, with protesters insisting that
Celebrations broke out in Baghdad on Friday after Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said he would submit a request to resign from parliament.
But in Iraq’s southernmost province of Basra, protesters were more enthused by Iraq’s goals in Friday’s football match against the UAE than they were by Mr Abdul Mahdi’s offer to quit.
“Now we’ve just achieved a partial victory, the next victory, God willing, will be … the parliament’s resignation and new elections,” said a protester in Basra.
Demonstrators in Basra have not only been calling for the government’s resignation, they want political leaders to stand trial for the violence during the protests.
“We want trials of the corrupt leaders, all of them,” the protester said.
“Iraq will not remain a weak country controlled by neighbouring nations.
“It will return to being a pivotal state leading in the region.”
Basra holds 60 per cent of Iraq’s oil reserves, but its youth unemployment stands at 30 per cent. The national average for joblessness among young people is 25 per cent.
The city has a chronic lack of basic services, and a spiralling health crisis compounded by the Iraqi authorities’ failure to manage waste and ensure healthy drinking water.
“We want a nation. Do you see the streets? They haven’t done anything, it’s been 16 years and they haven’t done anything,” said Hussein, 15, a protester.
Sixty per cent of Iraq’s population of about 40 million is under the age of 25, and many of those who have joined the protests are young men and women under 30.
“All of our generation comes here,” Hussein said. “We’re at the front line.
“Eight of my friends were injured and two of my friends were killed. I’m not afraid. I came out to claim my rights, not to steal anything.”
He, like many other protesters, said that he would continue protesting regardless of Mr Abdul Mahdi’s resignation.
“We want a new government – a better one.”
“This [Mr Abdul Mahdi’s resignation] is the result of the protests – the result of the blood of the buried martyrs,” said Muntather Furas, 18. “God willing, the rest will follow. Just Adel Abdul Mahdi won’t do anything – the killers will bring in another prime minister and the same thing will happen.”
Mr Abdul Mahdi came to power as a compromise candidate between the Sairoun and Fatah coalitions in parliament, and many protesters do not believe that he holds true power in the Iraqi government.
“Our problem is not with Mr Mahdi, our problem is with the government in general. The resignation is not enough, especially after the Thursday of blood,” said Mustafa Alaa, a young protester.
“Yesterday, many souls were lost and, God willing, our message for those martyrs and for the blood of the martyrs is that we will stay and we will not forget the martyrs that we lost yesterday for a second.”
The offer to resign came shortly after a sermon from Iraq’s foremost cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani urging the parliament to change the Cabinet after the violence that has shaken the country.
Security forces killed at least 45 protesters across Iraq’s Southern provinces on Thursday, with thousands more injured in one of the most brutal days since the protests began in early October.
Violence continued to rage in the Southern City of Nasiriyah on Friday with at least seven killed.
The bloodshed in Iraq has changed protesters’ initial demands of basic services, job opportunities and education into calls for the resignation of the entire government.
Demonstrators have poured into the streets across Southern Iraq daily since the beginning of October, driven by economic hardship and the fight against endemic corruption.
The crackdown has left almost 400 protesters dead and thousands injured.
Mr Al Sistani is an influential cleric whose Friday sermons carry great weight in Iraq.
Mr Abdul Mahdi said that he had “listened carefully” to Mr Al Sistani’s speech, and had decided to submit his resignation in response to the cleric’s words.
“The role of the Marjayia [the religious elite] is evident through the sermons, and it is to support peaceful demonstrations, because it is the only way to collect people’s rights and save the blood of the people, which the most important thing,” Jassam Mohamed Al Saadi, a representative at the Abbas shrine in Karbala told
the National on Thursday. “They call for the removal of the corrupt and changing the electoral law, changing the electoral commission and replacing it with independent individuals, in order to change to a democratic system where there is no difference between the sects.”
He said that Mr Al Sistani wants a peaceful transition of government.
“The Sayed [a respectful term for Mr Sistani] believes the right way to manage people’s affairs is through democracy, and what is happening now from the government is not democracy,” he said.
We want a nation. They haven’t done anything, it’s been 16 years and they haven’t done anything HUSSEIN Protester