Police fired tear gas in an attempt to stop hundreds of protesters from breaking into the Green Zone, home to government offices and foreign embassies, but the crowd did so and entered parliament.
The protests represent a new challenge for oil-rich Iraq, which remains mired in political and socio-economic crisis despite rising global energy prices.
Sadr’s bloc won the most votes in Iraq’s parliamentary elections in October, but fell short of a majority in parliament, and has yet to form a new government nine months after the elections.
The protesters are against the candidate for prime minister, Mohammed al-Sudani, nominated by the pro-Iranian “Coordination Framework” bloc. The bloc has drawn MPs from former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki’s party and the pro-Iranian Fatah Alliance, the political wing of the former Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary group.
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