Thousands of Iraqi protesters storm parliament building, videos surface

As Iraq confronts the longest post-election deadlock, hundreds of supporters of the populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr broke into Iraq’s parliament on Wednesday. Iraqis protesting corruption, bad governance broke into the parliament building chanting slogans against Iran-aligned groups. Several videos surfaces on social media: 

Protestors just stormed #Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad.

pic.twitter.com/g5JNWxaKwv

—  Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) July 27, 2022

Protestors in Baghdad have stormed into Iraq’s Parliament to protest Pro-Iranian PM candidate pic.twitter.com/FWROvyhgVx

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) July 27, 2022

Mass protests in Iraq. Protesters have forced their way into Parliament in the Green Zone.

Main demands unclear but in past days there’ve been Cost of Living protests. pic.twitter.com/Zfh4Ed10fj

— Bo Mbindwane (@mbindwane) July 27, 2022

Protesters in #Iraq's parliament chant against #Iran amid a proposed government by the pro-Iranian partiespic.twitter.com/WdUvjWJ9nm

— Guy Elster (@guyelster) July 27, 2022

BREAKING: Protestors in Baghdad have stormed into #Iraq’s Parliament inside the Green Zone in biggest demonstration since 2020. Mostly followers of Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr: pic.twitter.com/RBlm9xpGFS

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) July 27, 2022

Infighting among Shi`ite and Kurdish groups in particular has prevented the formation of a government in the country. The impasse has hindered the much-needed reforms for a country struggling to recover from decades of conflict.

The country has now been for a record 290 days without a head of state or cabinet with lawmakers unable to come to consensus nine months after election back in October 2021. The current impasse broke the 2010 record of 289 days.

Amid the political paralysis, Iraq has been left without a budget for 2022. This has held up spending on much-needed infrastructure projects and economic reform.

"There’s no government, so there’s no budget, streets remain potholed, power and water are scarce and there’s poor healthcare and education," said Mohammed Mohammed, a 68-year-old retired civil servant from the southern city of Nassiriya.

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(With inputs from Reuters)