MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Iraqi protesters demand resignation of president Barham Salih

10 Dec 2019 – EKURD.net – BAGHDAD,— Protesters in Baghdad and across the southern provinces are calling for Iraqi president Barham Salih’s resignation after the country’s prime minister stepped down. A protest organizer said on Tuesday that a key demand of those in the streets is for all of Iraq’s senior political leaders to resign, arguing that they no longer hold any authority.

Ali Aziz told NRT TV that they wanted the “three presidencies” to step down, referring to President Barham Salih, caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, and Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed al-Halbusi. Abdul Mahdi has already had his resignation accepted by parliament, but remains in power as caretaker.

Also a Kurdish lawmaker from from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Hassan Aali told Basnews that protesters are not satisfied with the resignation of Adel Abdul Mahdi from premiership, but they want the president to step down as well, and will call for the resignation of parliament speaker later.

The MP pointed out that the people have the right to call for reforms in the political system, but if the president and parliament speaker are also forced to step down, “then Iraq will enter a massive turmoil”.

“The Peace Palace [Iraq’s presidential palace] is likely to be stormed by protesters. However, nothing is certain while everything develops during the protests.”

A protest organizer Ali Aziz said that the protesters were organizing larger demonstrations and would not let any outside party influence or alter their demands.

“We are not in favor of entering Baghdad’s Green Zone yet,” Aziz said of the neighborhood that lies directly across the Tigris River from the main protest site and includes many government buildings and foreign embassies.

“We will not prevent anyone from other cities in Iraq from entering the Tahrir Square and the security forces also cannot prevent anyone from entering the city and Tahrir Square,” he said.

Addressing the evolution of the protesters’ demands since early October, Aziz said that “at first, the protests were peaceful, but the authorities and the government responded with violence. That changed the protesters demands into wanting the three presidencies to resign.”

He also criticized the government’s apparent reluctance to ensure that so-called “third party groups,” like the Popular Mobilization Forces, do not attack protesters.

“Those who came to Baghdad and shot the protesters are the ones that have authority and have armed forced and militias in the country. The corrupted need to be need to be removed from authority,” he added.

Iraqis are staging large protests in Baghdad and the southern provinces on Tuesday, in response to the government’s failure over the course of the last two months to meet demands for fundamental reform.