Iraqis Stage Mass Strike against Corruption
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thousands of people in Iraq including civil servants loyal to powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr went on a strike on Sunday in protest at the Baghdad government’s inability to fight state corruption.
The strike on Sunday followed a statement by the cleric two days earlier which urged government employees -- except for security forces -- to stage a two-day strike.
He also called on Iraqis to launch a hunger strike inside mosques, shrines and churches from September 9 until the morning of September 11, so as to to pile pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to replace his government.
An Anadolu Agency reporter at the scene said employees who have gathered outside government institutions are waving anti-corruption banners.
“We have begun our strike in response to al-Sadr’s call,” Ibrahim Falih, one of the striking employees in the capital Baghdad, told Anadolu Agency.
“We will continue our strike until Monday in line with al-Sadr’s directions,” he said.
People in Iraq have been gathering at different cities in the country over the past few months to urge Iraqi premier to form a technocrat government and curb corruption.
Iraq ranks the 161st out of 168 countries on Transparency International’s "corruption perceptions index".
The establishment of such a government has been stalled by persisting differences among various Iraqi political factions.
