Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi yesterday ordered security forces to ease access to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and main streets, in an apparent bid to improve daily life for ordinary Iraqis as the country braces for fresh protests.

The capital and many southern cities have witnessed demonstrations in recent weeks calling for provision of basic services, the trial of corrupt politicians, and the shakeup of a system riddled with graft and incompetence.

Thousands of people joined yesterday’s protests following a call from powerful Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Security forces deployed in force to prevent violence, which has been limited in past weeks.

Partly in response to the protests, Abadi is pushing reforms to a system he says has deprived Iraqis of basic services and undermined the fight against Islamic State militants.

Prime Minister’s action is apparent bid to improve daily life for ordinary Iraqis

He has announced several measures this month to combat corruption and mismanagement including scrapping layers of senior government posts, cutting security details and other perks for officials, and encouraging corruption investigations. Yesterday, he directed military commanders to ease civilian access to the Green Zone, the central Baghdad district home to many government buildings and several Western embassies.

The 10-square-kilometre area on the bank of the Tigris River once housed the headquarters of the US occupation and before that one of Saddam Hussein’s republican palaces. Checkpoints and concrete barriers have blocked bridges and highways leading to the neighbourhood for years, symbolising the disconnect between Iraq’s leadership and its people and wreaking havoc on traffic in the city of 7 million people.

Abadi also ordered the elimination of no-go zones set up by militias and political parties in Baghdad and other cities in response to more than a decade of car bombings.