The third package of reforms in Iraq and anticipate new protests

The Iraqi government has issued a new package of reforms, the third in less than a month, in response to protests against corruption, unemployment and poor services. The new package comes ahead of popular protests expected next Friday.

A statement issued by the Iraqi government that the new reform package includes training the unemployed by the Ministry of Electricity and granting them subsidies in preparation for their employment in state institutions or help them to set up small projects.

The Government also decided to entrust the Pension Board with the preparation of a project to reduce the retirement age in public office in order to provide vacancies that would enable the recruitment of more young unemployed.

The reform package also includes tax cuts for low-income and simple industries, including the total abolition of income tax.

The government also decided, according to the statement, that the Office of the Prime Minister to receive the complaints of the population to identify them in preparation for resolution.

This is the third package of its kind in less than a month, issued successively in response to the demands of mass protests in the country earlier this month and lasted a week.

Friday demonstrations
The new reforms come at a time when the public and government circles in Iraq await the start of popular demonstrations on the 25th of this month in Baghdad and a number of provinces, demanding better services and disclose the results of investigations into the killing of 108 demonstrators and wounding more than 6100 others in the first week of this month in Baghdad and other cities .

Calls and tweets spread through social networks in Iraq to prepare for these demonstrations, while the National Security Council called in an extraordinary session chaired by Prime Minister General Commander of the Armed Forces Adel Abdul Mahdi to expedite the processing of law enforcement forces recently formed to deal with protests and other civilian gatherings.

The leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr announced his support for new demonstrations in Iraq, considering that the government is unable to carry out the desired reforms.

Iraq witnessed early this month mass protests against corruption, poor services and lack of job opportunities during which the demonstrators demanded the dismissal of the government, including violence.

Following the demonstrations, the government pledged to hold accountable those responsible for violence, as well as reforms, including fighting corruption, improving public services and providing more jobs, after it acknowledged its forces' use of excessive violence against protesters.

Sadr has led in recent years mass demonstrations against corruption of political power in his country.