In Iraq, people have been taking to the streets for weeks to protest against the country's political elite. President Barham Saleh has now announced new elections - but the prerequisite is a electoral reform. This should be brought into Parliament in the "next week," said Saleh in a televised speech.
The President also announced that Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi was ready to resign if the parties could agree on a successor. The demonstrators have been pressing for weeks for the "overthrow of the regime". They blame the political elite for the country's grave social and economic problems. Abdel Mahdi's days at the head of the government seem to have been numbered since the two main political blocs withdrew their support. The formation of a new government should not be easy.
Already more than 250 people killed in the protests
More than 250 people have been killed in the sometimes violent protests of recent weeks, most of them protesters. However, the participants did not allow themselves to be intimidated by the violence.
UNO Special Envoy for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called on political forces to engage in a national dialogue to work out a plan to resolve the crisis. "Iraq is at a crossroads today, progress through dialogue or divisive inactivity," said the Dutch diplomat. Full transparency is important. Showcase speeches would only fuel anger and displeasure.
In several cities in southern Iraq there were also mass protests on Thursday. In Diwanijah, students, teachers, farmers, and hospital employees took to the streets while the authorities remained closed. In Basra, demonstrators blocked a road to the important Umm Kasr harbor, and in the capital, Baghdad, protesters camped in central Tahrir Square for the eighth day in a row.
