Huda Jassim (Baghdad)
Yesterday, Iraqi demonstrators stormed the Green Zone and the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, rejecting Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, the candidate of the “coordinating framework” for prime minister, while Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi stressed the need for peaceful protests.
The demonstrators crossed Al-Jumhuriya Bridge, in central Baghdad, while the security forces and anti-riot forces tightened their procedures in the vicinity of Tahrir Square and the entrance to the Green Zone.
The demonstrators raised Iraqi flags, chanting slogans calling for a government that would do justice to the people and bring them to safety.
For his part, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, called on the demonstrators to abide by their peacefulness, to preserve public and private property, and to the instructions of the security forces responsible for protecting them according to regulations and laws, and to immediately withdraw from the Green Zone.
“The security forces will be committed to protecting state institutions and international missions, and preventing any disruption to security and order,” Al-Kazemi said.
Yesterday, Iraq entered the longest period of stagnation after elections, as internal strife prevented the formation of a government, which hinders required reforms, while the country seeks to recover after decades of conflicts.
More than nine months after the elections were held last October, it does not seem that the legislators tasked with choosing a president and prime minister are close to agreeing on anything, as Iraq records a record period of 290 days without a president or government.
The longest previous period was in 2010 when 289 days passed, without a government.
The outgoing government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi continues to conduct business. If the parties do not agree on a new government, Al-Kazemi’s government may continue as a transitional government until new elections are held. This political paralysis has left Iraq without a general budget for 2022, halting spending on much needed infrastructure projects and stalling economic reforms.
Iraqis say this situation is exacerbating the lack of services and jobs, even as Baghdad achieves record oil revenues due to high crude prices.
Al-Kazemi assumed responsibility as a consensual candidate following the protests and promised to punish the killers of the demonstrators and to hold early elections on the tenth of October.
Forming a government in Iraq usually takes months and requires winning the support of all the major political parties.
The growing divisions between the political blocs prolonged the government formation process exceptionally this time.
The leader of the “Sadr movement” Muqtada al-Sadr, who won the largest number of votes in the October elections, withdrew his 74 deputies from parliament last month, as the political crisis worsened.
With this withdrawal, al-Sadr left dozens of these seats for the “coordinating framework,” which gave him the largest bloc in parliament to form a government. However, the latter’s announcement of the nomination of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, the former minister, prompted the demonstrators to protest demanding a government that is equitable to the people.
On the other hand, differences between the main Kurdish parties prevent the selection of a president, a position that, once approved by Parliament, allows its holder to appoint a prime minister.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has held the presidency since 2003.
His rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which received the largest number of Kurdish votes by a large margin, sticks to its presidential candidate. And neither side appears willing to budge.
“We have not been able to agree yet,” said Shirwan Al-Dobardani, an MP from the Kurdistan Democratic Party. “The position of the president should not remain in the hands of one party forever.”
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