“The thieves robbed us”, they chanted long into the evening.
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The country’s problems include “unemployment, general finances, human rights”, he said.
The measure, announced in an online statement, requires approval from the Council of Ministers and parliament.
Shortly after Abadi’s announcement, Abdel-Sattar al-Bairaqdar, spokesman for the judicial authority in Iraq, said prosecutors ordered an investigation into charges against Deputy Prime Minister Bahaa al-Araji, al-Sumaria television reported without elaboration.
The group was hastily assembled last year, with preexisting militias and new volunteers, to reinforce the Iraqi military after it crumbled in the face of the blitz by the Sunni militant Islamic State (IS) group that seized large parts of the country.
But he is now also facing a wave of discontent with government services.
In statements posted to his official Facebook and Twitter accounts, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his government would change the way ministers are selected, end the expensive security details of senior officials, and reopen graft cases under the supervision of a high-level commission.
“He must be more daring and courageous in his reforms”, Ahmed al-Safi, a representative of the reclusive Sistani, said in a sermon delivered in the shrine city of Karbala.
“I declare my total commitment to the directions of the religious Marjaiya [Shiite religious leadership], which has voiced the concerns and aspirations of the Iraqi people”, the Guardian reported, quoting al-Abadi’s statement. “The constitution is decrepit, the legal framework is woefully inadequate and the political class is utterly corrupt and incompetent”, said Zaid al-Ali, author of “The Struggle For Iraq’s Future”.
Al-Abadi’s seven-point plan would also require that a number of government posts be filled with political independents, a move aimed at combatting endemic corruption in Iraq’s political system, in which many senior appointments are determined by party patronage and sectarian loyalties.
When Abadi was named premier a year ago, he vowed to form a government based on efficiency and integrity. Professional syndicates were on hand, with the members of the lawyers syndicate marching in their judicial robes through the square demanding basic human rights.
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The three vice presidential posts, which come with more privileges than responsibilities, are held by former top officials – Maliki, Abadi’s main rival, ex-parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and former premier Iyad Allawi.
