Iraqi protesters reject PM-designate picked by ruling elites

Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators in Iraq reject the new prime minister-designate who was recently nominated by rival government factions. Demonstrators have long sworn they would not accept a candidate chosen by Iraq’s establishment.

Meanwhile, an influential Shiite cleric told his followers, who are camped out among protesters in the capital and the country’s south, to unblock roads and restore normalcy.

Saturday’s selection of former Communications Minister Mohammed Allawi, 66, to replace outgoing Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi was the product of many backroom talks over months between rival parties, ending a political stalemate.

Hundreds of students voiced their rejection of Allawi at rallies in Baghdad’s central plazas and in southern Iraq. In Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the four-month anti-government protest movement, portraits of Allawi marked with an “X” hung over tunnels and buildings.

“We don’t want Allawi because he is a party member chosen by the parties,” says Hadi Safir, a protester in Tahrir. “We want an independent nominee.”

Others are more diplomatic, said they would wait and see how Allawi would deliver on promises to hold early elections.

— AP