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Iraqi president pledges early elections while protesters call for more radical solutions

After a meeting with heads of parliamentary blocs and other top officials, Iraqi President Barham Salih announces a reform plan in response to protester demands.
Iraq's President Barham Salih delivers a televised speech to people in Baghdad, Iraq October 31, 2019. The Presidency of the Republic of Iraq Office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1A7B372D10
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BAGHDAD — Iraqi President Barham Salih announced Oct. 31 his support for protesters’ demands and pledged to organize early elections and to dismiss the electoral commission and form a new one.

Salih stressed that Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi agreed to resign within the “constitutional contexts.” The president said, “There is an urgent need for reforms in Iraq ... and a comprehensive national dialogue is in the works,” pointing out that the existing system has become unsustainable and that fixing it is one of main demands of the protests, which started in early October.

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