BAGHDAD — On Dec. 26, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss the reform project advanced by Sadr over a year ago through popular protests against those accused of corruption. One of those blamed was former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, currently one of Iraq’s vice presidents.

The meeting came after a series of demonstrations against Maliki, who has been visiting Shiite cities in central and southern Iraq. Anti-Maliki demonstrations in the south have revived concerns about Shiite infighting, especially after hundreds of angry protesters from Iraq’s southern province of Basra stormed a meeting in which Maliki was expected to address a group of influential figures, driving the attendees out of the hall. Sadr and his followers were held responsible for mobilizing the protests; Sadr refused to comment about them.

From Dec. 7-11, Maliki faced demonstrations in the south in Maysan, Dhi Qar and Basra provinces during his visits there with top officials. These visits were part of Maliki’s early campaign aimed at increasing his chances in local and parliamentary elections slated for 2018 and rebuilding the popularity he lost after one-third of the country fell in the hands of the Islamic State (IS) in June 2014, when he was still in power.

Maliki was surrounded by a swarm of protesters chanting against him. But the worst incident took place in Basra province, where the former prime minister had to call off his visit amid the public outcry. The angry crowds sought to remind Maliki of what happened during his term, where one-third of the country was lost to IS and about 1,700 young men from southern cities were killed in the Camp Speicher massacre in Salahuddin province. The protesters sarcastically called Maliki “Speicherman” in an allusion to the superhero Spiderman.