While President Barack Obama and Larry Wilmore entertained guests at the 2016 White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., hundreds of angry Iraqi protesters stormed the country’s parliament building in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Saturday. National and international news affiliates reported that the initial gathering came about after a Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, delivered a passionate sermon about government corruption in the city of Najaf, located 100 miles south of the capital city.
According to CNN, al-Sadr called for an Iraqi government led by “technocrats” instead of “political cronies” and “corrupt politicians [who should] be held accountable” for their inaction. Apparently the cleric had been lamenting the current Iraqi government, led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, for months, and promising that his followers “would enter the Green Zone if the government didn’t take steps to deal with the economic crisis and make other reforms.”
CNN, BBC News and other outlets report that al-Abadi and his staff have been trying to bridge the many gaps present between the country’s various Muslim sects, but the Iraqi parliament hasn’t budged. In fact, despite al-Sadr’s complains and al-Abadi’s attempts, they have “refused to approve the change for several weeks.” So the cleric’s supporters and hundreds of other protesters forcibly gained access into the Green Zone and the parliament building.
Press who were onsite for the massive demonstration managed to captured several dramatic videos and photos of the ordeal. Many of the protesters themselves even photographed and videoed themselves in the act and posted the results to social media.
Some, like this Facebooker, even stuck around after the core group of demonstrators decided to camp out in the parliament building and await the prime minister’s arrival — despite the fact that a state of emergency was declared. Meanwhile, Iraqi President Fuad Masum has asked that protesters leave the building so that officials could “enact the cabinet reshuffle.”
