New Prime Minister wants to reconnect with the streets after months of anger

The new Iraqi Prime Minister, Moustafa al-Kazimi, after his first Council of Ministers, on May 9, 2020. IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP

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For months, Iraq had been advancing without a leader. These difficult months, punctuated by historical demonstrations, pushed the former Prime Minister to resign. This Saturday was held the first cabinet meeting of the government of Moustafa al-Kazimi, the new Prime Minister.

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Without further ado, the new Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kazimi, and his team tried to reconnect with the population to counter the resumption of the protest movement.

The new government has pledged to release the jailed protesters and to compensate the relatives of the more than 550 killed. Another promise: establish the truth, identify those who shot the Iraqi people.

In fact, during the months of demonstrations , masked men targeted the processions. Many demonstrators accuse the Iranian militias of having infiltrated the security forces to quell this rebellion on their border. The promises continued, such as the payment of pensions for civil servants, cut by austerity measures, and the adoption by Parliament of a new law to hold the early elections.

Balanced on a thread

The new Prime Minister wants to act quickly, he is balanced on a thread. The coronavirus epidemic has temporarily stifled popular discontent, but on Wednesday, when Parliament trusted it, the street resumed its songs of revolt.

In the evening of Saturday, May 9, in the streets of Baghdad and cities in the south of the country, the rage of a youth resounded again who continues to reject this regime from which the Prime Minister and former intelligence chief emerged.

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