Iraq..Security spread and road cuts, and a night awaits for “mass demonstrations”

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[size=52]Iraq..Security spread and road cuts, and a night awaits for “mass demonstrations”[/size]

01 October 2022
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Hundreds were killed in Iraq in the October 2019 protests. Archive
[size=45]The capital, Baghdad, and other cities in southern Iraq are in a state of anticipation tonight, in light of expectations for mass demonstrations on the anniversary of the October 2019 protests, which left hundreds dead and thousands wounded by the bullets of security forces and armed militias loyal to Iran.[/size]
[size=45]Reports indicate that roads are cut off and intense security is spreading in the streets of Baghdad, especially near the Green Zone, while the Security Media Cell confirmed, on Friday, that the security forces “hold control of matters in all governorates,” denying the validity of information about “the spread of unknown gunmen.”[/size]
[size=45]In conjunction with the expected return of the demonstrations, the cell confirmed in  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] that “there are strict orders that stress the prohibition of carrying weapons or forming armed groups outside the framework of the state.”[/size]
[size=45]The Office of the Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, directed the various security services to prevent the use of live bullets, rubber ordnance and smoke bombs, to inspect the demonstration yards to ensure that firearms are not carried, and to ensure protection for the demonstration yards.[/size]
[size=45]During the past few days, a committee calling itself the "Supreme Coordination of Protests in Iraq" announced an agreement to break out in mass protests in the capital, Baghdad, in early October, indicating that they would enter the Green Zone peacefully and free of violence.[/size]
[size=45]“All indications and events are pushing the Iraqis to take to the streets again,” according to what the political researcher, Heba Al-Fadam, considers in an interview with Al-Hurra website, that “Iraq is facing the test of the last chance” to restore the country’s “Iraqi identity.”[/size]
[size=45]The researcher, Al-Fadam, who is based in the United States, explained that the return of the October demonstrations is accompanied by a state of "tense among Iraqi citizens", especially in light of the silence of the political class towards the violation of sovereignty that the country is exposed to, whether by "Turkey or Iran", where these countries are active. In carrying out attacks that claimed the lives of Iraqis.[/size]
[size=45]Adel Al-Manea, a member of the State of Law coalition led by Nuri al-Maliki, confirms that “the reports of the presence of security forces or armed groups that precede the demonstrations are not true,” and that their goal is to “spread terror and confusion among the people.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Manea indicated that "there is an exaggeration in talking about the return of the October demonstrations to the Iraqi street, as what will happen will not go beyond a peaceful memorial pause for the October martyrs." He called on everyone to maintain the "peacefulness of this pose so that we do not witness any violent incidents."[/size]
[size=45]Political analyst researcher Haitham Al-Hiti expects that the demonstrations during the first days of October will be limited, but they may become "mass gatherings later."[/size]
[size=45]He added, in response to Al-Hurra's inquiries, that "the various security services have made early preparations that may aim to either disperse the October demonstrators or even prepare for confrontations that may be of a violent nature."[/size]
[size=45]According to  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] published by the Iraqi News Agency, more than 500 people were killed in the 2019 demonstrations, about 300 of them in demonstrations in the capital, Baghdad, and the rest from the governorates of Dhi Qar, al-Basr, Babil, Karba, Najaf, Diwaniyah and Maysan.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Hiti is likely to obtain "support for the October demonstrations by supporters of the Sadrist movement, but in an unannounced manner, especially since the movement during the last period lost its presence in Parliament and even its various political alliances, and it will not be able to remain marginalized for a long time."[/size]
[size=45]But a political analyst close to the Sadrists, Manaf al-Moussawi, said that supporters of the Sadrist movement may stage "separate" demonstrations in the name of the movement. He told the "Al-Hurra" website that "the October people may go out in demonstrations, but this does not mean that the Sadrist movement's supporters will go out in the demonstrations themselves."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Moussawi reiterated that there are no ways to solve the crisis in the country without "dissolving parliament and going to early elections, which can be conducted by an independent prime minister who will manage the transitional period."[/size]
[size=45]According to the Iraqi constitution, parliament can only be dissolved at the request of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives or at the request of the Prime Minister and the approval of the President of the Republic.[/size]

"Inevitable Collision Phase"

[size=45]Adel Al-Manea confirms that Parliament will hold a session during the next two weeks and “is likely to witness the election of a president and prime minister” to end the political crisis in the country.[/size]
[size=45]The analyst Al-Hiti points out that the continued presence of Parliament means that we are in front of an “inevitable collision phase,” and we may witness active movements in the Iraqi street, and the Sadrist movement may push the Tishreen people to continue the demonstrations.[/size]
[size=45]He explains that in 2019 the Tishreen people were able to bring about important changes in the political scene, as they were able to dismiss the previous government, and a government headed by an "independent" person was formed, but they also learned that elections cannot bring about the political change that the country needs.[/size]
[size=45]The dispute is escalating in Iraq between two camps, the first led by Muqtada al-Sadr, who demands an immediate dissolution of the House of Representatives, consisting of 329 deputies, and the holding of early legislative elections after withdrawing 73 Sadrist deputies; The other camp is represented by the "Coordination Framework", an alliance that includes Shiite factions loyal to Iran, and seeks to form a government before any elections are held.[/size]
[size=45]The researcher Al-Fadam believes that even if the parties from the political class agree to form a government in the coming weeks, the Iraqis will not leave the street “until the political class leaves.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Fadam fears that the influential parties will resort to repeating what happened in 2019, using violence against the demonstrators. And she warned of "the possibility of the presence of sleeper cells belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which were presented to Iraq during the recent religious visits, which may fuel riots among the demonstrators and lead to the occurrence of violent clashes."[/size]
[size=45]Iraq has been living in a comprehensive political impasse since the legislative elections in October 2021, in light of the inability of the major political currents to agree on the name of the next prime minister and the method for his appointment, according to.[/size]
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