Iraq protests one year on: Demands, Iran’s role, al-Kadhimi and the future
Iraq protests one year on: Demands, Iran’s role, al-Kadhimi and the future
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of protests in Iraq known as the “October Revolution.”
Throughout the year, Iraqis have taken to the streets across the country. They have been met with force – with an estimated 600 people being killed as security forces and militia fire upon the crowds.
Despite two changes in the prime minister, the protest movement remains alive in the country, determined to tackle the same structural issues that sparked the initial demonstrations a year earlier.
Here is all you need to know about the protests.
What caused the Iraq protests?
The protests that broke out on October 1 are the result of the build-up of years of Iraqi resentment against the political class and system – which is based on the ethnic-sectarian quota system – because of unemployment, the lack of services, and electricity, nepotism, corruption, and foreign interference.
Before 2019, Iraqis held sporadic demonstrations on these same causes, such as in 2016 when they stormed into Baghdad’s Green Zone and the Iraqi Council of Representatives.
Many Iraqis had boycotted the 2018 elections, with only 44.5 percent turnout reflecting frustration.
Despite Iraq having one of the top five oil reserves globally, 22 percent of Iraqi people live on less than 2 dollars a day according to the World Bank.
The Shia majority areas of Baghdad and southern Iraq suffer from high rates of poverty and became the heartland of the protests.
There were two sparks to the protests on October 1, 2019. In late September, the government launched a harsh crackdown on graduate students who had demanded jobs and called for an end to corruption.
On September 29, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi stoked controversy by firing the popular Iraqi commander Abdul Wahab al-Sa’adi, with speculation that the move had been the result of Iranian pressure against the commander’s local popularity.
