Iraq’s president vowed on Thursday to hold early elections in response to a month of deadly protests, but demonstrators said the move fell far short of their demands for a political overhaul.
In his first televised address in weeks, President Barham Saleh said the country’s embattled Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi was ready to step down, but there was so far no one to take his place.
“The prime minister expressed his willingness to submit his resignation, asking the political parties to reach an agreement on an acceptable alternative,” said Saleh.
He pledged to hold early elections as soon as a new voting law and oversight commission was agreed, but his speech did not appear to impress demonstrators.
“Barham’s speech is just an opiate for the masses,” said Haydar Kazem, 49.
“Abdel Mahdi’s resignation isn’t a solution, it’s part of the solution. The problem is with the ruling parties, not with Abdel Mahdi.”
Iraq’s leaders have scrambled to respond to massive protests that erupted on October 1 over unemployment and corruption, ballooning into demands for “the downfall of the regime”.
Saleh has held closed-door talks with top figures over Abdel Mahdi’s ouster and parliament has called on the premier to come in for questioning.
Abdel Mahdi has so far resisted, saying he would only appear if the session was aired on television.
Lawmakers met Thursday for a fourth consecutive day and agreed to broadcast any session live, with Saeroon MPs chanting: “Adel must come! Adel must come!”
Abdel Mahdi, 77, came to power a year ago through a tenuous partnership between populist cleric Moqtada Sadr and paramilitary leader Hadi al-Ameri.
The kingmakers’ alliance has frayed in recent months, as Sadr threw his weight behind the protests while Ameri and his allies backed the government.
A rapprochement built on Abdel Mahdi’s ouster appeared close on Tuesday night, but disagreements over who could replace him seemed to have slowed down the process.
The United Nations’ top representative in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, called for a national dialogue to draw a roadmap out of the crisis.
