In Tahrir Square in Baghdad, and in the hotbeds of the anti-power protest in southern Iraq, the demonstrators did not take off after the designation on Saturday 1st February, of the new Prime Minister. Thousands of protesters still held large banners on Sunday with the portrait of Mohammed Taoufiq Allaoui, crossed out with a red cross and the words "Rejected by order of the people". In their eyes, this 65-year-old former telecommunications minister, chosen by the Shiite groups in power, embodies a political system and an elite from which they claim the fall.
The Shiite political leader, who presents himself as independent, has multiplied the gestures in their direction. "I ask you to continue the protests, because if you are not with me, I will be alone and there is nothing I can do", he called in a video posted on social media on Saturday, promising them: "Now I work for you. " In a televised address to the nation, Mohammed Taoufiq Allaoui then promised to form a representative government, to organize early elections, to fight against foreign interference and corruption and to do justice to the killed demonstrators – 543 since 1st October, according to a report by the Iraqi Human Rights Commission, released on Sunday.
His promises did not convince the protesters. "It is linked to parties (in power), we don't want him ", Judge Abdallah, a 29-year-old worker, who has been camping on Tahrir Square since October 25. Born in Baghdad and an engineer by training, Mohammed Taoufiq Allaoui began his political career as a deputy after the American invasion in 2003. He was once a member of the secular Iraqiya bloc, dominated by Sunnis and led by his cousin Iyad Allaoui. Twice he was Minister of Telecommunications (2006-2007 and 2010-2012) and resigned to protest Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's inaction on corruption. He then resided in the United Kingdom and in Lebanon.
Al-Sadr's turnaround
His appointment following an agreement between the Shiite political parties condemns him more in the eyes of the protesters. After long negotiations, and an ultimatum from President Barham Salih, the Sairoun coalitions, of Moqtada Al-Sadr, and Al-Fatah, leaders of the armed factions of the Popular Mobilization, chose him to succeed Adel Abdel-Mahdi, who had resigned under pressure from the street, on November 29, 2019. The end of the political deadlock owes a lot to the ultimate reversal of Moqtada Al-Sadr, who has continued to blow hot and cold over the dispute, which joined many of his supporters.
