Wed 27 July 2022:
Hundreds of Iraqis have stormed the parliament building in Baghdad, the majority of them supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the country’s foremost Shia figure, to protest the nomination of Iran-backed parties for prime minister.
When the protesters broke into the capital’s high-security Green Zone on Wednesday, which houses governmental institutions and diplomatic missions, there were no lawmakers present in parliament.
The pro-Iran Coordination Framework’s choice for premier, former minister and ex-provincial governor Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, is opposed by the demonstrators.
The protesters were instructed to “immediately withdraw” from the Green Zone, according to Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
He warned in a statement that security forces would see to “the protection of state institutions and foreign missions, and prevent any harm to security and order”.
Al-bloc Sadr’s became the largest faction in the 329-seat parliament after winning 73 seats in the October 2021 elections in Iraq.
But since the vote, talks to form a new government have stalled and al-Sadr has stepped down from the political process.
Al-Sudani was selected by State of Law leader and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Before al-Sudani can face parliament to be seated officially as prime minister-designate, parties must first select a president.
Yerevan Saeed of the Gulf Arab institute said that al-Sadr through the protests wanted to demonstrate to his rivals that he’s still “politically relevant”.
“Obviously, it is a very dangerous game. It could plunge the country into intra-Shia civil strife,” he said from Washington.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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