Protesters break into Iraq’s parliament for 2nd time in week
Baghdad, Jul 30 (EFE).- Hundreds of protesters on Saturday stormed into the Iraqi parliament for the second time this week to protest a candidate for prime minister named by a pro-Iran Shiite majority bloc.
“The protesters have entered the Green Zone and are inside Parliament,” the state-run INA news agency reported.
Dozens of the supporters of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr entered the chamber, while hundreds are concentrated outside the building, a parliamentary source told Efe in conditions of anonymity.
The new assault occurs amid massive protests called by the cleric, which began earlier this morning with thousands of protesters occupying Baghdad’s central Tahrir square.
The protesters chanted slogans against Iran’s influence in politics, corruption and the candidacy of Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, put forward by pro-Iran coalition Coordination Framework.
The security forces tried to disperse the crowds with water cannons and tear gas. At least 60 people were injured, according to the INA agency.
One of al-Sadr’s spokesmen, Saleh Mohamed al-Iraqi, blamed “the political blocs” for “any attack against peaceful demonstrators.”
Al-Sadr’s supporters previously stormed into the parliament on July 27 amid tensions between the political forces of Iraq.
The Coordination Framework announced al-Sudani, a former labor and social affairs minister, as its candidate to form a new government, after over nine months of political deadlock.
The Sadrist Movement, which is led by al-Sadr and received the most votes in the elections, dissolved its 73 seats in parliament to protest the blockade imposed by the Framework of Coordination to form a government. EFE
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