Iraq protests resume as political paralysis deepens

Thousands of protesters blocked roads and bridges in southern Iraq on Monday, condemning Iranian influence and political leaders who have missed another deadline to agree on a new prime minister.

Anti-government demonstrators burned tyres in major cities across the south, forcing the closure of schools and government buildings, a correspondents reported as political paralysis deepened in Baghdad.

Negotiations over a candidate to replace premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, who quit in November in the face of protests against corruption and unemployment, remained stalemated as a midnight on Sunday deadline expired.

While a pro-Iran camp has tried to impose a candidate, Iraqi President Barham Saleh has reportedly put up resistance.

On the street, protesters are mobilising anew after weeks of relative calm in a movement that has seen hundreds die in clashes with security forces.

Demonstrators announced civil disobedience campaigns in the southern cities of Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, Hilla, Kut and Amara, where schools and public buildings were closed Monday.

“We are upping our actions because we oppose any candidate from the political class that has been robbing us since 2003,” said Ali Al Diwani, a young protester in Diwaniyah.

For Iraqis protesting since Oct.1, the system installed by the United States after it led a coalition to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003 has become dominated by Iran and is beyond reform.

An economic revival promised for 16 years never came, protesters say, while more than half of all oil revenues were syphoned off by crooked politicians and their cronies.

While renewed protests risk a resumption of the violence that has already caused 460 deaths and 25,000 injuries since October, the government remains paralysed.

Officials say Iran wants to install Qusay Al Suhail, who served as higher education minister in the government of Abdel Mahdi.

A former key member of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s movement, Suhail rejoined the State of Law Alliance of former premier Nuri Al Maliki, who is close to Iran and an enemy of Sadr.

While pro-Iran factions and parliament speaker Mohammed Al Halbusi are pushing for Suhail, a source in the presidency says Saleh has vetoed his appointment.

Demonstrators also categorically reject his candidacy and that of anyone from the wider political establishment.

“What we want is simple: a prime minister who is competent and independent, who has never been involved with the ruling parties since 2003,” said Mohammed Rahman, a protesting engineer in Diwaniyah.

Protesters say an overhaul of the political system must start with electoral reform.

Since 2003, elections have used a complicated mix of proportional representation and list voting that favours major parties and the heads of lists.

Protesters say they want a first-past-the-post system to “guarantee a new generation could enter politics to clean up everything the ruling parties have corrupted,” Rahman said.

Lawmakers were also likely to continue negotiations to appoint a premier, the deadline for which has already been pushed back twice by Saleh.

A statement read through loudspeakers in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square said the protesters reject candidates that belong to political groups they blame for widespread corruption.

Iraq’s leaderless uprising has roiled the country since Oct. 1, with at least 400 people killed in the violence. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to decry corruption, poor services and a lack of jobs, while also calling for an end to the political system imposed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Pressure from the demonstrations led Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to resign late last month, after Iraq’s most powerful religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, withdrew support for Abdul-Mahdi’s government.

Last Friday, Sistani, in his weekly sermon delivered by a representative, called for political blocs to form the government quickly.

Agencies