Iraqi security forces shot in the air to disperse a demonstration outside the government building in Basra yesterday, where the forces arrested a number of photographers of satellite channels carrying the demonstrations, while the protesters responded by throwing stones.
Basra, southern Iraq, witnessed mass popular protests during the month of September, which developed into confrontations with the security forces.
The protests erupted against the backdrop of the suffering of the city due to neglect, poor service, lack of job opportunities, and widespread corruption. Public anger in Iraq's second-largest city has intensified as efforts to form a new government stalled after the May legislative elections. Meanwhile, angry deputies disrupted a session of the Iraqi parliament yesterday, which was scheduled to include a vote on the rest of the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, where they raised their voices with cheers against the proposed candidates.
A member of parliament, the majority of these deputies belong to a bloc led by the leader of the Sadrist movement Moqtada al-Sadr and their allies on the list of former Prime Minister Haider Abadi.
The prime minister and the candidates, who were seeking to appoint them soon, left the parliament and the vote was postponed. The incident clearly shows the depth of the dispute over who should be appointed to the eight remaining cabinet posts, including the heavily contested internal and defense portfolios.
The rivalry between Sadr and Hadi al-Amiri, who leads an armed faction supported by Iran, prevented the formation of a full government. The government now has 14 out of 22 ministers. Sadr and Amiri are leading the two largest blocs in parliament after the general elections in May.
Abdelmahdi said in a statement yesterday that he would put Faleh al-Fayyad as a candidate for the post of interior minister to vote in parliament. Al-Sadr and former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi refused to attend the meeting in response, but broke into the middle of the session and said they lacked a quorum for the meeting.