Iraqi protesters set sights on local governors

Protesters in central and southern Iraq are demanding the sacking of governors and local government administrators. The protests have spread to Kirkuk, where demonstrators called for removing the governor and other local officials, calling them representatives of corrupt parties.

On Oct. 28, 2019, the Council of Representatives voted to dissolve the governorate councils and authorize the governor to manage financial and administrative matters. It also voted to end the work of the district, provincial and local councils. In the ongoing demonstrations that broke out in reaction, protesters have been targeted by unknown armed groups. More than 700 have been killed and near 30,000 wounded.

After Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi called June 6 for the formation of a ministerial committee headed by Minister of Interior Othman al-Ghanmi to appraise the performance of governors and departmental heads, four southern governorates erupted into angry demonstrations calling for their governors' dismissal. On June 7, demonstrators in Al-Diwaniyah governorate demanded the dismissal of the governor and his two deputies and their replacement by a judge.

On June 8, protesters in various cities called on the administrators to resign and be replaced with “independent” governors, asking them to resign from their positions peacefully. The same day, protesters burned the governor’s house in the Shiite holy city of Najaf and called on him and the district directors to resign and for the arrest of those behind the murders of protesters since October.