Iraqi premier unveils reforms after anti-government protests

On Sunday, gathering at the same square to applaud Mr. Abadi, Jaafar Taslimi called the prime minister’s moves a historic change for Iraq.

Maliki said in a statement the night before Abadi publicly outlined his plan that he supported the reform drive, indicating that the proposed changes may have been made as part of a deal that he endorsed.

Abadi’s political rival – former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki – is now a vice president.

The president’s power is largely ceremonial, but the president’s deputies have real sway.

Iraq’s parties, representing the country’s Shiite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish communities, regularly tussle in parliament for larger shares of state appointments and funding.

But it was unclear on Sunday if Abadi would need a constitutional amendment to eliminate the position.

The Iraqi cabinet has approved the Abadi’s reform proposal and send it to parliament for discussion.

One of the deputy prime ministers, Bahaa al-Araji, resigned after the cabinet backed Mr. Abadi’s proposal.

Abadi, a moderate Shi’ite Islamist who has sought reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi’ites, has struggled to build broad political support for meaningful reform.

There was some opposition to the plan, however.

The hope was that a less corrupt and sectarian government would help in the fight against Islamic State militants. “Those in these posts were voted in by parliament, and they belong to political blocs. Al Abadi, if none of these decisions were approved, should resign”.

Iraq’s system of sharing out government posts along sectarian lines has long been criticized for promoting unqualified candidates and allowing corruption.

Al-Abadi’s seven-point plan would dismantle portions of the top-heavy government created in the wake of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

And finally, it calls for investigations – to be conducted by judicial figures “known for their total impartiality” – into longstanding allegations of government corruption.

The call for reform unfolds as Iraqi forces appear mired in a stalemate in their battle against Islamic State, an Al Qaeda breakaway faction that controls much of Iraq’s Sunni heartland and the northern city of Mosul.

Protesters chant anti-government slogans while riot police guard the provincial council building during a protest against corruption and the lack of government services and power outage in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, August 7, 2015. “He has the support of the people”, another agreed.

About 1,000 demonstrators gathered late Sunday in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square in support of al-Abadi’s plan.

The protests, which began last month in southern Iraq and have spread, came amid temperatures that have topped 120 degrees. Public anger reached a flashpoint in the past week, when the country was baked in a heatwave but – despite repeated promises by authorities to fix the electricity supply – most people only had power for a few hours each day. Previous governments have promised action against graft, without always delivering.

The reform package also includes setting up a high commission to investigate current and former officials accused of corruption and an overhaul of the way officials, including ministers, according to Gulf News.