In Baghdad, more than a hundred demonstrators gathered Friday evening near the Iraqi Parliament to protest against the new electoral law, which must be voted on this Saturday, March 25 in the evening. Some of them spent the night there. They reject a law which they say will reverse the gains of the popular protests of 2019.
With our correspondent in Baghdad, Marie-Charlotte Rupee
A few hundred meters from the Iraqi Parliament, Abdallah chants revolutionary slogans evoking major events of 2019. From the top of his 21 years, the young Baghdadi firmly rejects the future Iraqi electoral law. “ All Iraqis will be losers with this law because, even if they participate in the elections, they will not have the expected result, it will be as if they had done nothing “, he believes.
This law says Saint-Lego redefines, among other things, the electoral districts, by making them larger. This could favor the parties already in power. For the supporters of this law, this will make it possible to avoid political deadlocks as during the last elections, by achieving a clear majority.
A look back at the achievements of the 2019 revolt
For the demonstrators, it is a return to the achievements of the 2019 revolt. The division into smaller districts had allowed the independents to obtain greater representation in Parliament. “ We will try to make our voice heard in Parliament and if they do not listen to the voice of the Iraqi people, we will have other things to add, it will degenerate “Assures Thaer, a protester who arrived from Maissan, a province in southeastern Iraq.
Faced with the large deployment of law enforcement, they finally spent the night at a good distance from Parliament. They do not intend to move until the vote.
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