ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - From the public squares that echoed with the slogan, “We want a homeland,” to the halls of parliament and meetings of traditional parties, a striking paradox is emerging in Iraq’s political scene. Six years after the Tishreen protests, described by supporters as a movement that “reshaped collective consciousness and unsettled the ruling establishment,” some figures who came out of that uprising are now forming alliances with the same traditional forces that faced widespread public anger in late 2019.

For some Iraqis, this shift appears to be a legitimate political evolution. For others, it represents a retreat from the principles of the uprising and a gradual integration into the same power structure that Tishreen was born to confront.

Some of these figures have joined the Reconstruction and Development Coalition headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, others have joined the Foundation Coalition led by Muhsin al-Mandalawi, a few have moved toward the State of Law Coalition led by Nouri al-Maliki, and at least one has joined the National State Forces Alliance led by Ammar al-Hakim.

Most of those contacted by The New Region either declined to comment, did not answer calls, or responded with brief statements.

Tishreen lawmakers ‘refuse to justify’

MP Nissan al-Zair, who represents the Tishreen-affiliated Emtidad Movement and became known for her active stance against authorities, is running in the 2025 elections under the State of Law Coalition. She expressed frustration when asked about moving from a protest-based movement to a traditional party.

“Every politician has a vision, and there is no need to justify why I went here or there,” Zair told The New Region, adding, “I determine the path to achieve my constituents’ aspirations.”

The representative from Dhi Qar said a politician must determine the best direction to fulfill society’s ambitions.

Zair secured around 27,000 votes in the 2021 elections, ranking second among women candidates in Iraq that year, behind the New Generation Movement’s (NGM) Srwa Abdulwahid.

At the time, Zair signed an honor agreement within Emtidad, which included commitments to prosecute those responsible for killing peaceful protesters, exercise parliamentary oversight, expose corruption across state institutions, amend the constitution, push to change the political system from parliamentary to semi-presidential, refuse pension benefits at the end of the parliamentary term, reject payments under the so-called “living allowance,” and support laws that cancel retirement salaries and privileges granted to members of parliament and the three presidencies.

‘No deals with traditional parties’

For his part, Mishraq al-Furaiji, secretary-general of the “Nazil Akhod Haqqi” [I am coming to take my right] movement, formed during the 2019 protests and recently running under the Reconstruction and Development Coalition led by al-Sudani, defended the alliance.

“We did not resort to the same ruling system. Rather, we allied with a party whose political history is not that long,” Furaiji told The New Region.

He said the Euphrates Movement, previously led by Sudani, has existed for less than eight years and supported the Tishreen protests rather than opposing them.

Furaiji said their agreement with the Reconstruction and Development Coalition is a state-level alliance with a unified message: rejecting political quotas, changing the status quo, and refusing uncontrolled weapons.

According to Furaiji, the Nazil Akhod Haqqi movement shares common ground with the coalition in rejecting corruption, political quotas, and uncontrolled weapons. He also said the movement never accused Sudani or his former Euphrates Movement, but instead criticized major parties within the Coordination Framework.

Furaiji justified the presence of Coordination Framework members within the Reconstruction and Development Coalition by saying their presence does not mean Nazil Akhod Haqqi is directly allied with them. He stressed the movement’s full freedom in making decisions inside and outside the coalition.

“We have not abandoned our principles and values, nor were we bought,” he said. “Those who make such accusations are the ones allied with the ruling powers.”

‘Those who reached parliament are not representatives of Tishreen’

Political researcher Majash’e al-Tamimi believes that those protest-affiliated figures who joined traditional parties were never true representatives of the movement.

The analyst told The New Region that the shift by several independent and protest-born lawmakers toward traditional parties does not reflect political pragmatism. Instead, he said, “they were never true representatives of Tishreen. They rode the wave and exploited public anger to reach parliament.”

Tamimi added that independence was, for most of them, a temporary election slogan that collapsed under the temptations and benefits of power.

Tamimi said the situation damaged the moral image of the Tishreen movement, but did not end its spirit or demands. “Those who betrayed the principles were never the ones who created them in the first place,” he said.

The academic claimed that authorities partially succeeded in absorbing some public faces, but the popular essence of the movement remains outside the calculations of the party system, and will continue to represent public awareness rejecting corruption and political quotas, no matter how much traditional forces try to use its symbols to improve their image.

The Tishreen protests, which began in October 2019, erupted across Baghdad and southern Iraq over government corruption, economic mismanagement, and poor public services. The youth-led movement demanded an overhaul of the political system after years of unfulfilled promises on jobs, electricity, healthcare, and water.

The protests were met with a violent crackdown by Iraqi authorities, with at least 541 protesters killed and over 20,000 injured, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR).