BAGHDAD — Iraqi President Barham Salih announced Oct. 31 his support for protesters’ demands and pledged to organize early elections and to dismiss the electoral commission and form a new one.
Salih stressed that Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi agreed to resign within the “constitutional contexts.” The president said, “There is an urgent need for reforms in Iraq ... and a comprehensive national dialogue is in the works,” pointing out that the existing system has become unsustainable and that fixing it is one of main demands of the protests, which started in early October.