Iraqi Protesters Reject Appointment of Allawi as New PM (Videos)

A new wave of nationwide demonstrators has erupted in Iraq this evening in the wake of the recent appointment of Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as the new prime minister.

https://twitter.com/LawkGhafuri/status/1223659827387359233

Some of the Iraqi protesters blocked main roads with burning tires and others chanted anti-Allawi slogans, amid anticipations that the coming period will witness more protests across Iraq.

https://twitter.com/wa3ediq/status/1223658896495140865

Meanwhile, Saraya Al-Salam terrorist gangs of Muqtada Al-Sadr attacked peaceful protesters at Tahrir Square due to rejecting the appointment of Allawi as prime minister.

https://twitter.com/Sddann1/status/1223659101063991296

Iraqi President Barham Salih appointed  Allawi as a new prime minister after the failure of Iraqi political parties to name a candidate in the two months since the former premier was ousted by popular protests.

https://twitter.com/firas_alimam/status/1223653831076126723

Allawi would run the country until early elections would be held. He must form a new government within a month.

Former Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned in November amid mass anti-government unrest at the time hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets demanding the removal of Iraq’s political elite. Nearly 500 protesters have been killed in a deadly crackdown by security forces.

Allawi was quoted by state TV as saying he would resign if political blocs sought to impose candidates for different ministries.

He also called on protesters to continue demonstrating until their demands are met.

For demonstrators who demand the removal of what they say is a corrupt ruling elite, the former communications minister under ex-premier Nuri al-Maliki, who presided over the fall of multiple Iraqi cities to Islamic State in 2014 and is accused of pro-Shi’ite sectarian policies, is part of the system and therefore unacceptable.

Iraq is facing its biggest crisis since the military defeat of the Islamic State in 2017. A mostly Shi’ite popular uprising in Baghdad and the south challenges the country’s mainly Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim ruling elite.

The country has been thrown into further disarray since the assassination of Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3. Iran responded with missile attacks on bases hosting U.S. forces, pushing the region to the brink of an all-out conflict.

Pro-Iran politicians have tried to use those events to shift the focus away from popular discontent with their grip on power and toward anti-American rallies and demands for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.