In early October, 2019, anti-government protests broke out in Iraq. People flooded the streets to decry corruption, lack of employment and poor services.

According to Iraq’s semi-official human rights commission, cited by the Associated Press, at least 490 protesters were killed in three months of rallies.

CGTN spoke with the former interim Iraqi Prime Minister, Dr. Ayad Allawi, to get his perspective on why the protests happened and how the country might be able to move forward.