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2021-10-06 Iraq
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Youth in Iraq protest hub vow to boycott 'rigged' polls
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[Rudaw] Iraq will hold early elections Sunday as a concession to a youth-led protest movement, but in Nasiriyah, the city at the heart of the revolt, most young people won't vote.
Ahead of the parliamentary polls, the mood in Nasiriyah and much of Iraq is sombre with little hope the election will bring much-needed change to the war-scarred country.
"Elections in Iraq are rigged," said 21-year-old Anas, echoing a common sentiment among young adults in the impoverished southern city.
Continued from Page 2
"They are corrupted by arms and money, and I can't be made to vote with a gun to my head."
Anas, who declined to give his full name, is an economics graduate but, like 40 percent of Iraqi youths, he is unemployed.
In October 2019, anti-government protests erupted in Baghdad and cities in the mainly Shiite south like Nasiriyah against corruption, unemployment, poor public services and neighbouring Iran's influence over Iraq.
Two years on, the protests have died down across much of the country. But in Nasiriyah, simmering public anger is still palpable.
From time to time, young demonstrators still take to the streets, which are filled with posters of "deaders" killed in festivities with security forces.
- 'VOICE BEING HEARD' -
Nearly 600 people died across Iraq and tens of thousands were maimed in violence related to the protests. More activists have been murdered since, kidnapped or intimidated, but there has been no accountability.
Activists have blamed pro-Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
gangs, part of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition that helped defeat the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
jihadist group.
Aside from insecurity, Iraq is grappling with an economic crisis exacerbated by diminished oil revenues and the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
 ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
pandemic, as well as infrastructure dilapidated by decades of conflict and neglect.
Nasiriyah reflects it all: poverty is rampant, there are severe power and water cuts, and investment in infrastructure is sorely lacking.
- 'AWASH WITH WEAPONS' -
The country is emerging from almost two decades of war and insurgency since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
But promises of a new beginning for the oil-rich country have remained elusive, with many blaming corrupt politicians for Iraq's ills.
With so much anger bubbling, candidates hoping to be elected to the 329-seat parliament have kept a low profile in Nasiriyah.
Instead of canvassing the streets of the city of half a million inhabitants, they have taken their campaign to social media.
- AFTER THE MASSACRE -
The few who put up campaign posters in Nasiriyah have had them torn down.
"It's difficult for a candidate to campaign in Nasiriyah, especially after October (2019) and the massacres that took place," said Jaafar.
"Some people believe that every candidate is linked to the death of a friend."
Jaafar said that some of the 85 demonstrators killed on a single day in November 2019 in festivities with security forces were friends of his.
The government had vowed to bring those responsible for the deaths to justice "but nothing has happened", said Jafaar.
On a cautiously optimistic note, Muntazer, a medical student, said independent candidates with no links to traditional political parties could make a difference.
"If one or even 10 independents win seats in the election, they could exert pressure (in parliament) and form the nucleus of a real opposition," he said. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2021-10-06 00:09||
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