Iraq: thousands of students on the streets of Baghdad and southern cities

Text by: RFI Follow

Thousands of students marched this Sunday, February 9, in Baghdad and in southern Iraq. They have been supporting anti-power demonstrations for 4 months, and are also asking for a renewal of the political class, which they deem incompetent and corrupt.

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With our correspondent in Baghdad, Lucile Wassermann

" Your education is a failure, " shouted students in Baghdad. As in the south of the country, thousands were parading this Sunday in the streets of the Iraqi capital, holding up posters or the portrait of the Prime Minister-designate, crossed out with a large red cross as a sign of rejection.

For four months, these young Iraqis have regularly taken the streets of the Iraqi capital and refuse to return to the school or university benches. It is their way of protesting against the Iraqi government, which they say has failed to promote employment in this country where unemployment affects nearly one in four young people.

The mobilization of students recently intensified when the government ordered them to resume their education.

Also at the center of their anger: the influential Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr. A few weeks ago, his supporters still paraded alongside the other demonstrators. But the clerk's many twists and turns and his support for the Prime Minister designate divided the protest and turned the street anger against him.

More than ever, these young Iraqis demand a young, leaderless revolution.

Since the beginning of the movement , many universities and schools have closed their doors. Students say they do not want to return until the demands for the challenge are met.

► Read also: In Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani calls on the authorities to protect the demonstrators

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