Middle East News

Iraqis protest for better services on first anniversary of election

Mar 7, 2011, 10:37 GMT

Baghdad - Hundreds of protesters gathered Monday in Iraq, demanding better services and marking one year after the parliamentary elections, which left the country in a nine-month long stalemate. Around 200 protesters gathered in central Baghdad's Tahrir Square to demand economic reforms, jobs and an end to corruption amid tight security measures. In the city of Falluja, hundreds of young people, tribal chiefs and scholars gathered in the centre of the city demanding an end to corruption and the release of detainees. They were chanting anti-government slogans 'We Will Not Vote Again, They Stole Our Voices' and 'Brothers, Sunnis and Shiites, We Will Not Sell Our Country'. Demonstrations have been held in Iraq for over two weeks calling for dissolution of the provincial councils and bringing all parties involved in corruption to justice. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki took his second term in office last November in a deal that broke the country's political impasse. The cabinet, appointed in December, was expected to tackle the rising wave of violence as well as the crumbling infrastructure across the country and power shortages. Thousands of people have protested since last summer to demand an improvement in electricity services, as most attempts at fixing the power supply crisis and providing better water resources, since the US-led invasion in 2003, have failed.

Middle East News

Iraqis protest for better services on first anniversary of election

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