Main events concerning the uprisings for the week 8th–16th January.

On January 10th, millions of people went out across squares and streets in Iraq to state their right to demonstrate freely and express their free voices, reclaiming the values and goals of the protests.

Of course, critiques and attempts to discourage manifestations from the Iranian satellite supporters came very quickly, inciting armed forces to disperse the demonstrators by force (same message aired by Al-Anwar 2 satellite channel and the Al-Ahd channel). These realities also targeted demonstrators by calling them names, like “the Joker”, as a response to the people creating the slogan “I am an Iraqi, and the parliament does not represent me.”

Kidnapping and systematic killing of demonstrators and activists continue with no break.

In Basra, journalist Ahmed Abdel Samad and his colleague, photographer Safaa El-Ghali, were killed in a planned attack. Since the beginning of the uprisings, they had been very involved in covering the demonstrations.

Despite the demonstrators calling out the government multiple times to guarantee them protection during demos and justice for the victims and their families, authorities did not show any will nor desire to identify or arrest the killers. In some locations, authorities deliberately withdrew security forces from the sites where protests were ongoing, resulting in an attack by armed men who could burn tents without any counter action by the police. Protestors called out the government to guarantee them safety. The United Nations were also called upon to protect protestors from the militias attacking the squares and guarantee the personal safety and integrity of the activists who were arrested.

The parliament keeps delaying its sessions and ignoring the discussion concerning the demands of protestors.

Confusion and constitutional violations are still present. The resigned Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, is still covering the official role and functions and will continue to do so even though more than a month has passed since his resignation; an alternative candidate has not yet been proposed, nor has the issue been discussed at all in the institutional premises.

The resigned PM is also accused of having sold Iraqi resources to China, through the economic agreement signed in September 2019. Independent economic experts consider this agreement as an additional form of occupation of Iraq and Iraqi resources, after the US’ appropriation of Iraqi oil and Iran’s political and economical expansion and increasing influence. In light of this agreement, the country should supply 300.000 barrels a day to China, in addition to repaying the loans that it will be granted. This agreement represents an economic suicide for the state as it is already in a grave financial situation, with an annual budget deficit amounting to $ 20 billion. Similar agreements were previously signed with international companies for energy supply or infrastructure works, but they all ended up incomplete, with no financial proof of how the invested money was actually spent.

Today, Iraqis are more aware than ever and protests have been staged to state people’s rejection of any financial agreement that would detract attention from the fight for freedom and the sacrifice of lives.

In the midst of all the legislative chaos and social unrest, the Parliament has decided to enter a legislative holiday for a month, notwithstanding the demands of the population and the fact that it has not ruled properly for more than 100 days.

On January 13th, protesters in Nasiriyah decided to give the government a week to come up with practical solutions and steps to match their demands: submit the Prime Minister’s candidate name, complete and ratify the election law, determine the size of electoral districts, and set the date for early elections.

If these requests would not be meet, civilians promised to escalate the range of protests. From the first day of this ultimatum, Baghdad, Diwaniya, Karbala, Najaf, Basra, and other cities in the country, stated their solidarity with Nasiriyah and adopted the so called Nasiriyah Ultimatum.

Muqtada al-Sadr, religious and militias’ leader, called for “a million demonstration”, denouncing the American presence in Iraq, but the location of these protests has not been yet determined. Many Iraqis accuse the leader of not stopping to try and take advantage of the political chaos, by exploiting the ongoing uprisings to preserve his interests.

On January 13th, Al-Sadr attended a meeting in Iran, with Hadi al-Amiri, the vice president of the PMF (The Popular Mobilization Forces) and Qais Khazali, leader of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militia (Shia militia), both of whom are specifically haunted down by American services, for staging protests and inciting hate against the US. The meeting was also attended by Laith Khazali, Secretary General of the Hezbollah Brigades, Abu Alaa Al-Alla’i, leader of the Sayyid Al-Shuhada ’Brigades, and Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi leader of the al-Najaba Brigades. All of them are part of or collaborate with the PMF.

During the meeting it was agreed to form a coordinating committee to arrange the work of the resistance factions to “remove” the American occupation forces from Iraq.

This summary was taken from the AYS Medium website