2015 Iraqi protests
| 2015–17 Iraqi protests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 16 July 2015 – present (1 year, 9 months, 1 week and 5 days) |
||
| Location | Iraq (since 30 April 2016: Green Zone, Baghdad) | ||
| Causes |
Corruption Inflation Sectarianism Unemployment Growth of ISIL |
||
| Methods |
Demonstrations Sit-ins |
||
| Status |
Ongoing
|
||
| Parties to the civil conflict | |||
|
|
|||
| Lead figures | |||
|
|
|||
Ongoing
The 2015–17 Iraqi protests started on 16 July 2015 in Baghdad and most of Iraqi cities, mainly in middle and southern provinces.
On 16 July, clashes between police and demonstrators led to the death of one young man, with two others wounded.
On 2 August, hundreds took to the streets in the southern cities of Nasriyah and Najaf to protest over poor living conditions, including power shortages, and urged authorities to fight widespread corruption.
On 7 August, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand changes to the government in central Tahrir Square and jammed the main streets around it, some calling on Prime Minister Abadi to fire corrupt ministers.
On 30 April 2016, thousands of protesters entered the Green Zone in Baghdad and occupied the Iraqi parliament building. This happened after the Iraqi parliament did not approve new government ministers. The protesters included supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr. Although Iraqi security forces were present, they did not attempt to stop the protesters from entering the parliament building.
In 2014, Iraq's election led to a fractured parliament and inability to quickly form a government. Following frustration at the lack of progress, Moqtada al-Sadr promised to lead a sit-in near parliament within the Green Zone in calling for reforms to end corruption. Despite attempts by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to re-shuffle his cabinet, he carried out the threat for a short period before calling on his supporters to disperse. The political instability in the country has been disconcerting to foreign governments, especially amongst rumours of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki political maneuvering. The U.S. had earlier called for the replacement of al-Maliki as prime minister as a condition for fighting ISIS. A few days before the protests, parliament failed to reach a quorum to approve new ministers to replace the current government. Al-Abadi warned that a failure to form a new government would hurt the war against ISIS.
...
Wikipedia