Shafaq News- Baghdad

More than 5,000 unemployed graduates poured into central Baghdad on Monday, demanding government jobs and inclusion in public sector hiring plans under Iraq’s current federal budget, a source told Shafaq News.

The demonstration gathered in the al-Alawi district before expanding toward Sahat al-Shawwaf in central Baghdad, disrupting traffic across surrounding neighborhoods and forcing the closure of bridges linking the al-Karkh and al-Rusafa sides of the city.

The rally follows days after the newly formed government led by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi issued a broad set of directives focused on anti-corruption measures, economic reform, digital transformation, and institutional restructuring.

Former Iraqi lawmaker and senior Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) figure Majid Shingali previously assessed that the country’s financial situation cannot sustain any further increase in state salaries and public-sector wages, pointing to the government’s continued failure to hire medical and health graduates from 2023, 2024, and 2025, with another graduating class expected this year.