Thursday, March 3rd 2011
Sadr, Allawi support peaceful protests for better services
Najaf, The leader of the Sadrist Current Muqtada al-Sadr and the head of the Iraqiya list Ayad Allawi said on Thursday that they support the peaceful demonstrations that demand of better services and living conditions.
Muqtada al-Sadr said during a joint news conference with Allawi after their meeting at the residence of the Sadr in the Hanana neighborhood in Najaf that the deadline was not given for Maliki only, but for all government cadres and when we adressed the head of the pyramid we knew its importance in improving the performance which serve the people."
The Sadrist Current gave a few days ago the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki six months to improve the basic services provided to citizens, else the current which has 40 parliamentary seats out of 325 will organize a million demonstration in Baghdad and the provinces.
A number of Iraqi cities witnessed a wave of protests since the fifth of last month that reached their maximum last Friday, when the protests spread to the majority of the Iraqi provinces where about 10 people were killed in clashes with security forces.
The protest were done against the poor services and financial and administrative corruption in government institutions and demand of better living conditions for Iraqis and the provision of services and employment opportunities in accordance with the promises, which were launched before the parliamentary elections last year.
Iraq suffers from dilapidated infrastructure in the overall sectors as a result of long years of siege and war during the last two decades of the last century.
Despite the passage of eight years since the former Iraqi regime was toppled, the Iraqi governments were not able to provide basic public services to citizens who often protest against their lack
The leader of the Iraqiya List and the former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said during the conference: "We support the peaceful demonstrations that demand of reforming the service, living and political situation as a legitimate and constitutional right of the Iraqi people."
Allawi has arrived this morning to Najaf and met the religious authority Mohammed Said al-Hakim to offer condolences for the death of his father.
With regard to the policies council which he is expected to hold, he said that "the posts are not privileges for a person or party, as far as it is a post that provide services for people who struggled for freedom."
"Al-Iraqiya supports all the demands of Muqtada al-Sadr about the provision of services and the right of peaceful protest," assuring that "all the demands of the Iraqi people are acceptable particularly as they are related to the provision of dignity and basic services and the ration card items, as well as combating corruption and the reform of the provincial councils."
The protests prompted the Iraqi government to take practical steps to calm down the Iraqi street, and the first was represented by giving the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his ministers a period that does not exceed 100 days, to improve the performance of the ministry.
Maliki announced at a news conference in Baghdad a few days ago about new reforms related to fighting corruption and the distribution of 280,000 government job "fairly" in an attempt to calm the protests taking place in the country.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/222607/
