Since Tuesday, mass protests have occurred against the Iraqi government in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi youth are mainly behind the protests, pushing the government for improved employment, services for the poor, and ending government corruption. The unemployment rate for the youth is almost double the general unemployment rate for Iraq. As Iraq is still attempting to economically recover from its war against the Islamic State group, the poor conditions fuel the high unemployment rate and create unrest with the younger generation of Iraqis, triggering mass protests. Armed forces were employed in Baghdad to combat the protesters with tear gas and live rounds. Thursday authorities imposed a curfew in order to supposedly “project general peace”; however, the protesters are refusing to follow the curfew. Since the curfew was imposed, the death toll has risen to 20, possibly up to 33 with more than 1000 injured. An internet blackout has been imposed to limit the protestors’ ability to organize protests through social media.
International concern has grown as a result of the death toll from the protests, which continues to rise. As long as the world is monitoring the situation in Baghdad, the Iraqi government will have to tread carefully in their response to protestors. The UN has already urged the Iraqi government to use restraint in regards to their response to the protestors. Amnesty International has also responded to the situation in Iraq, stating that the methods of response to the protests are outrageous, and the government needs to hold a fair and impartial investigation into the numerous deaths.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Abdul Mahdi, posted on Facebook saying, “We stress to the people of our nation that our priorities were and will remain focused on providing radical realistic solutions to many of the decades-long accumulated problems.” Thursday, Mahdi called for talks in order to end the protests, “return[ing] to normal life.” The Iraqi PM is attempting to save face by posting on Facebook and calling for talks to show that his government wants to attempt to fix the escalating protests and their demands. Ending the protests is a considerable challenge for Abdul Mahdi since the protestors have no clear leader or political backing that Mahdi can negotiate with.
In my opinion due to the difficulty of negotiations, a leaderless protest will be non beneficial to the protestors. Especially in the authoritarian regime that Iraq has, the government will continue to respond in a forceful manner with the death toll rising. A leaderless protest has no one that the government can negotiate with, which will lessen the chance to allow negotiations and implementation of the socio-economic demand that the Iraqi youth desires to occur.