Eleven protesters were killed in the Sadrayn square in Najaf after clashes with Sadr’s Blue Caps on Wednesday evening - the latest in months of deadly repression by armed groups on anti-government protest killing 600 and injuring thousands more.
The violence was internationally condemned, and Iraq’s caretaker premier Adil Abdul-Mahdi ordered an investigation. Though handpicked by Sadr and his Iran-backed allies from Hadi Amiri’s Fatih Alliance, PM-designate Allawi came out strongly against the violence on Thursday.
“The unfortunate and painful events that have taken place in the past two days, of the death and injury in protesters squares, are a dangerous indication for what is happening and what could happen, and this is absolutely not acceptable,” Allawi said in a statement.
“I cannot continue the task I was given if what the youth are facing continues. I didn’t accept this national mission for any other reason than to rebuild what has been destroyed,” Allawi said, adding that it is “immoral” for him to stand by as protesters are killed.
Allawi, a former communications minister, was widely rejected by Iraqi protesters who consider him part of the political establishment they perceive as corrupt. However, his rejection of the premiership could send Iraq into further political impasse after months of dispute over who would replace Abdul-Mahdi.
Iraqi protesters have been on the streets across Baghdad and the mainly Shiite-majority provinces of the south since October 1, 2019. The Blue Caps protected squares housing the protest movement across the country until late January, when Sadr called for his forces to withdraw.
As violence against protesters across the country continues, a source told Rudaw on Thursday that Sadr’s Blue Caps attacked protesters in Karbala’s Ahrar Square, where gunfire could be heard.
Amid inaction from the nearby Karbala Operations Command, the Blue Caps took over the square, the source said.
“Security forces and the [Blue] Caps currently control the square,” they added.
Security forces raided protester tents in the Babil province city of al-Hilla on Thursday, offering no explanation for the raid’s launch.
Branding Allawi a “controversial” choice for prime minister, protester coordination bodies in Dhi Qar province on Thursday gave political parties a week’s deadline to select a date for a public referendum in which candidates chosen by protesters are voted on.
“We will shoulder the responsibility of choosing [a PM], to surpass controversy. That is why the selection process will be through a general, popular referendum under the supervision and monitoring of protester squares, the judiciary, the [Electoral] Commission, and the United Nations to vote on individuals whose names are presented by protester squares,” the representatives explained in a Thursday video statement.
“The date of the referendum will be determined within a week from now. Referendum stations are to be in province centers, for two days to prevent procrastination,” the representatives said, adding they want those in Kurdistan Region provinces to be able to vote too.
The representatives threatened to organize a one million protester march on the fortified Green Zone, home to government buildings and foreign diplomatic missions if the government fails to meet the deadline.
