Mass Iraqis rally in Baghdad to protest corruption and sectarianism

Tens of thousands of Iraqi people rallied in downtown Baghdad on Friday, in response to the call by the populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to protest against corruption and sectarianism in Iraq.

Demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, waving thousands of Iraqi flags and chanting "No, no to corruption. No, no to sectarianism. Yes, yes to reform. Yes, yes to Iraq."

Moqtada al-Sadr appeared in the rally and shared the demonstrators their chants, before one of his aides read his speech.

Sadr demanded to sack all corrupt people in the government institutions, including high-ranking officials, warning that if the government failed to meet this demand, demonstrators will go further and demand resignation from President of Iraq, Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker, the three top leaders in the country.

The government "must bring the corrupted people to fair trial as soon as possible; otherwise, the people would prosecute them," he said.

Sadr also demanded to cancel the quota system for government posts and to form an independent technocrat government.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made a substantial shakeup in his cabinet late March, when he presented a list of 14 candidates to the parliament for a new cabinet lineup including independent technocrats, but his move faced objections from other parties in the parliament.

Some political blocs and politicians apparently disapprove of such a reform because they see it a way to marginalize their factions in a government originally built on power-sharing agreements.

A series of failed reform measures have paralyzed Iraq's parliament and its government as the country struggles to fight the Islamic State militant group, which seizes swathes of territories in northern and western Iraq. The country is also being trapped in an economic crisis, in part due to a plunge in global oil prices. Endit