Falah Al Jazairi steps down as Baghdad governor amid protests and deaths


Devdiscourse News Desk | Baghdad | Updated: 06-10-2019 18:12 IST | Created: 06-10-2019 16:11 IST
 Falah Al Jazairi steps down as Baghdad governor amid protests and deaths
  • Country:
  • Iraq

Falah Al Jazairi has stepped down as Baghdad governor on amid ongoing protests and deaths caused by the crackdown on these protests. A member or Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition, Al Jazairi was elected in late December in a controversial vote.

He submitted his resignation which was then unanimously approved by Baghdad Provincial Council on Sunday amid ongoing protests. The council has reportedly begun accepting candidates for the position.

The capital city Baghdad has been plagued by violent protests in recent days that have left dozens dead. Iraqis have gathered in Baghdad and across the south since Tuesday to demand widespread government reforms, which Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi had promised to tackle when he came into power just under a year ago.

At least 18 people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and police in Baghdad yesterday night, according to police and medical sources, as the cabinet tried to appease public anger with a new reform plan including allowing low-income residents to apply for residential land.

The reforms also included the decision to distribute residential plots to beneficiaries, support interest-free housing credit programs to increase the number of borrowers, as well as offer unemployment benefits to 150,000 people who do not have the ability to work and provide more employment opportunities for the youth.

The scale of the protests that erupted against chronic unemployment, poor public services, and widespread corruption, in which nearly 100 people have died since Tuesday, has taken the authorities by surprise.

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