Around 1,000 demonstrators gathered in central Baghdad today to demand an end to corruption and a government reshuffle, in the latest in a long string of weekly protests.
Unlike the previous week, no violence erupted between the massive deployment of security forces and the protesters, most of whom are supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"We must keep up the pressure, this is the only way of getting the intended result: ending corruption and giving Iraq back to Iraqis," said Ali Chasseb, a taxi driver who came from the southern town of Amara for the protest.
Sadrist protests have twice led to breaches of the fortified Green Zone, where the country's top institutions are located.
The demonstrators want Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's plan to replace the government of party-affiliated ministers with a cabinet of technocrats to be implemented.
The move is being opposed however by many politicians, including within Abadi's own party, who want to preserve the patronage system that is their main source of power and wealth.
