What Happened: The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has released details of a third package of measures designed to calm ongoing protests, Al Sumaria reported Oct. 20. The proposals include paid training programs for unemployed youth and promises to work on a new tax law to exempt low-income citizens, among others.
Why It Matters: If enacted, the latest promises will help quell some discontent while also worsening Iraq's structural economic problems by adding an unsustainable public wage bill and lowering tax revenue.
Background: Over 100 people have been killed in anti-government protests over the last month that included demands for better services, anti-corruption measures and better access to job opportunities. Protesters are expected to gather again in Baghdad on Oct. 25.
Read More:
- Why Baghdad's Attempts to Mollify Protests Are Falling on Deaf Ears (Oct. 11, 2019)
- Iraq: Metastasizing Protests Threaten to Upend the Government (Oct. 4, 2019)
- Building Pressures Risk Tearing Iraq's Fragile Government Apart (Sept. 25, 2019)
