Thu 10 October 2019:
After days of deadly unrest across Iraq, questions have arisen over whether the government’s reform package will help satisfy protesters frustrated by chronic corruption and sectarianism.
“I think the problems are complex and the government reform package is insufficient. Maybe it will help calm the street if the government does not use force or kill the masses, but after killing more than 100 demonstrators and injuring more than 6,000, I think that these reforms are no longer valuable, so I do not consider that the reforms will work in calming the angry masses,” Jasem Alshemary, an Iraqi analyst, told Daily Sabah.
Experts also pointed to the role of sectarian policies that have been implemented with the establishment of a political system based on sectarian sharing after the U.S. invasion.
Sectarian policies
“Sectarian sharing does not require political figures and actors who participate in the political process to be competent or have a vision and programs to develop and improve conditions. The sectarian sharing system only requires them to be able to attract their sects and continue to market the sectarian rhetoric,” Alsadoon noted, adding that the concept has delayed development and advancement opportunities in Iraqi society because of widespread corruption, rising power and influence of non-state actors such as armed factions.
Iranian intervention in the demonstrations has also been fiercely debated within Iraq. Reports suggest that the Iraqi government use pro-Iran paramilitary units such as Hashed al-Shaabi to crackdown on the protesters, which has caused many Iraqis to point their anger to their northern neighbor.
“There are significant signs of Iranian involvement in the Iraqi arena, and this is not new. Iranian officials have already been mentioned on many occasions,” Alshemary said.
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