Iraq: Protesters continue to call for dismissal of Al-Muthanna Governor

Members of Iraqi security forces look on as a demonstrator stands draped in a national flag durign a rally for International Women’s Day in Iraq’s southern city of Basra on March 8, 2021 [HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images]

Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated in Al-Muthanna governorate again, on Monday, to demand the dismissal of Governor Ahmed Judeh from his post, while protesting against the poor level of services and mismanagement.

The demonstrators chanted slogans calling on Governor Judeh to “prevent bloodshed and resign from his post.”

Authorities in Al-Muthanna governorate did not issue any official statement regarding the popular protests until 14:00 (GMT).

After Babylon, Al-Diwaniyah (south), Wasit (central), and Dhi Qar (southeast), Al-Muthanna was the fifth Iraqi governorate in which demonstrators have demanded the dismissal of the governor due to widespread corruption and official failure to serve the people’s interests.

READ: Iraq grants $20bn projects to Chinese companies

Last week, the governors of Wasit (Muhammad Al-Mayahi) and Dhi Qar (Nazim Al-Waili) were sacked, due to popular protests.

Iraq has been witnessing recurrent protests since October 2019, due to the poor economic conditions and widespread financial and political corruption, despite the government’s promises to improve the situation.

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.