The demonstrators carried banners and placards that read, “Peace! No to corrupt authorities.” They called for the country’s current election law to be changed and the high electoral commission to be dissolved, demanding that a new election body be established.
Today’s protests were a continuation of demonstrations held near Baghdad’s green zone last Wednesday.
The demonstration drew protestors from across the country. “I call for the liberation of the right bank of Mosul, salaries and services,” a demonstrator from Mosul told Rudaw, adding that the salaries of Kurdish civil servants should be sent to the Kurdistan Region.
Most of the protestors were reportedly followers of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr who have been staging protests almost regularly on Fridays for more than two years, calling for government reforms.
It is anticipated that Sadr himself might arrive in Baghdad Friday night and address the protestors on Saturday.
“These protestors are calling for the high electoral commission to be changed, which we believe is controlled by the ruling parties,” Sadr’s political spokesman Jawad al-Jiburi told Rudaw.
“The Sadr Movement previously demanded that the election commission be changed as we believe the change is in the interests of the Iraqi people. This commission should be free from political interference. The protestors are demanding that the election commission, the election law, and the commission’s members be changed,” he added.
The Iraqi High Electoral Commission recently warned that their preparation for the country’s next general elections will be delayed or stopped if the demonstrators continue to disrupt governmental departments.
“It is the constitution and the laws which establish the institutions of the state of Iraq, and it is the law which determines a roadmap to make changes. Hence, amending the election laws should be done through the parliament, which is vested with the necessary legal authority according to the constitutions,” the head of Iraq’s High Electoral Commission, Sarbast Mustafa, told reporters.
Last month, Sadr demanded that the election system should be changed.
The country’s electoral commission has set next September for the Iraqi provincial elections.
At least ten people were killed or injured when a car bomb exploded at Umaima market in Baghdad’s Shabab neighbourhod. Earlier in the day, two more explosions hit the Iraqi capital, killing three and injuring four.
