An assessment of current developments in Iraq from a left-wing activist after the beginning of the ongoing protests on 1 October 2019. The conversation took place via phone call on 3 October after the Iraqi government shut down all Internet access.
by Miriam Younes and Sarah Wansa
There are many different causes for the current protests, many of which date back years: the socio-economic situation in Iraq has not improved since the demonstrations in 2018, unemployment rates have gone up. Currently, there are about 13 million people unemployed in Iraq, mostly due to the lack of investments and the general state of the Iraqi economy. It is mainly the state apparatus itself that offers opportunities for employment.
The outbreak of demonstrations in Egypt two weeks ago encouraged many activists in Iraq to call for protests in Baghdad on 1 October. During the months leading up to this moment, the Iraqi government took all measures to prevent and suppress previous demonstrations, organized by various groups like engineers, students of educational studies, and veterinarians. Mainly five groups set out to organize demonstrations in Baghdad over the course of the last six months, attended by approximately 500 people. The government’s violent reaction to these protests sparked anger throughout the country – for a large part of the Iraqi population, it seemed unfathomable why the protesters, members of a higher income group with access to education, and their legitimate demands were met with such violence. Furthermore, the government released Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Saadeh, one of the military leaders during the fight against ISIS in Mosul. His popularity in Iraq is predominantly due to his non-confessional alignments – which sets him apart from many other popular figures.
The wave of anger and frustration finally led to the call for protests on 1 October, answered by a large number of people joining the demonstrations despite the fact that they had been publicly banned by several parties and political organization like the Iraqi Communist Party, the Sadrist Movement, and the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq[1] – the latter of which had been taking part in protests over the previous years. Nevertheless, precisely this kind of reluctance demonstrated by the well-established parties encouraged many people to join the protests by strengthening their non-sectarian and secular positions. Moreover, the protesters’ demands struck a chord with many Iraqis (and not just specific groups or sects) and their basic demands to end corruption, poverty, and unemployment.
Nominating a new parliament speaker without any immediate solutions since last year, 2023.
