As is the trend in the Middle East lately, protests dominate the headlines of Iraq. On Friday, protesters flooded
Tahrir Square in Baghdad to continue the protests on unemployment and corruption. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki issued a vehicle ban on the city that forced the protesters to walk to the square. In an act of determination, they walked for hours from all over to protest.
Concerns have risen about how much
power Prime Minister Maliki has, too. Spirited by the Middle Eastern protests, scrutiny about Maliki's amount of power has surfaced. In January, a ruling by Iraq's high court gave Maliki authority over previously independent agencies that run the country's central bank, elections, and corruption investigation. A month after this ruling, two human rights groups reported that Maliki was directly in charge of forces that run secret prisons that torture their inmates. Last July, the high court took away legislation proposition from Parliament and gave it to Maliki's cabinet and the president. These rulings are sure to fuel the protests in Iraq even more, maybe even calling for Maliki to step down.
The protests this week follow in the shadow of the biggest rally so far, which happened last Friday (February 25th). The protests have had been a mix of violence and peace, like last Friday's protest, which yielded 16 dead and over 130 wounded. However, Iraqi protesters are trying to make them as peaceful as possible. Kamil al-Assadi of Sadr City formed a committee to check the protesters entering the city for possible weapons. He said that he wants to prevent security forces from planting violent protesters in the crowd.
Seeing this brings hope for the protests in Iraq. While it is bound to be a long process, it's good to see that there are people trying to make it as safe as it can be and not give security forces a reason to open fire on the crowds. But, change is not impossible, as shown by other countries in the region.
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