A number of Iraqi protesters have gone on hunger strike in the Baghdad, an NRT reporter said on Sunday (December 22).
The protesters’ hunger strike will last until the draft election bill is approved by the Council of Representatives on Monday.
Iraq has been rocked by anti-government protests for over three months. Initially the demonstrators wanted the government o to do more to fight corruption, increase job opportunities, and improve public services, but they are now calling for the resignation of the government and early elections.
More than 497 people have been killed and over 17,000 others have been wounded since anti-government protests began on October 1, according to the high commission for human rights. Local and international rights watchdogs have condemned the killings.
Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said on Friday that an early election was the only way out of the current unrest gripping the country and a new government should be formed soon.