Basra is once again at the center of demonstrations in Iraq, as citizens in the country's southern oil hub protest corruption, nonexistent or poor services that compound dangerous health conditions and the prime minister's failure to install a Cabinet and get on with government business.

For the second week in a row, demonstrations continued in Basra on Friday, June 29. Security forces used live bullets to disperse the protesters. No casualties were reported.

A political source in Basra who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said, “Based on the security apparatuses’ indicators, the political parties learned that the protests in Basra will escalate and will probably [call for] bringing down the government or the current political process.”

As political opposition mounts against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's government — by two major Shiite political currents, the Sadrist movement and the National Wisdom Movement (Al-Hikma) led by Ammar al-Hakim, among others — the protests could very well intensify and place additional pressure on the government.