More than 250 have died and thousands injured in anti-government protests

by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Baghdad

In Al Umma Park in central Baghdad – the “park of the nation” – a small group of men and two women debated under ageing eucalyptus trees how best to articulate the demands of the protesters who have taken to the streets of Iraqi cities in their thousands this month.

“Burning army trucks won’t help us, it will only help the government accuse us of being hooligans,” said a young man. “If I give you 17 RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] launchers and you burn that building, how will that benefit our demands?” Another man called for the government to be toppled. As the group gathered around him listening, someone shouted: “Who made you a speaker?” This spurred the rest of the crowd to break into chants of “no one represents us” and “Iran out, out”, denouncing Iraq’s ruling Islamic parties and their Iranian backers.

The nature of the debate, just like the demonstrations taking place outside the park, was chaotic, boisterous and leaderless. Most of the group were in their 20s, but among them stood two old communists in Che Guevara berets.

Eventually, the crowd agreed on a list of demands, which were read out from the steps of the city’s Freedom monument by a young bearded and bespectacled man: “The resignation of the government, new elections, a change in the elections law and most importantly putting all the government officials on trial.” The crowd cheered, mobile phones were raised and the call was raised to demonstrate in Tahrir Square.

‘Those who don’t want to advance go back home’

Iraq’s latest spasm of protest erupted on 1 October after a call for demonstrations on Facebook. Sparked by the dismissal of a popular general who distinguished himself in the war against Islamic State, the demonstrations have been motivated by a deeper undercurrent of anger towards a corrupt religious oligarchy, a rotten bureaucratic regime and the failure of the Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, to fulfil any of his campaign pledges after a year in power.

For a young generation that has grown up in the 16 years that have followed the toppling of Saddam Hussein, elections and representative democracy have become synonymous with corruption and MPs abusing their privileges. Religious parties, many backed by Iran, dominate the political sphere and though oil-rich Iraq has an income of hundreds of billions of dollars, the reality for many citizens is parallel with life in some of the poorest Arab nations: unemployment, a collapsing healthcare system and lack of services.

Read more about it from the source: the guardian