Over the past six weeks, two incidents involving politicians visiting Iraqi university campuses have been met with unhappy students protesting their visits. They were dealt with very differently and have raised serious questions and concerns about how the Iraqi state can protect freedom of speech and hold those intolerant to opposing opinions accountable.

The first incident occurred on February 28, when Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi held his weekly cabinet meeting in Wasit province, south-east of Baghdad. The Prime Minister occasionally holds his cabinet meetings outside the capital to connect with the rest of the country. That day Abadi decided to visit Wasit University after the cabinet meeting but was met with a group of protestors on campus. The students were mostly Sadrists that were keeping in line with the protest movement that Muqtada Al-Sadr has been encouraging in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square.

Despite being attacked by protestors, Abadi maintained his composure in his address at the university and invited students and faculty to Baghdad five days later to hear their concerns and address the reasons for protesting his visit to Wasit University. Abadi highlighted the importance of keeping protests peaceful in response to the attacks on his convoy while also reminding his audience that most states at times of war suspend the right to protest, while his government has ensured the safety of protestors for over two years. Abadi’s diplomatic response to the protestors was welcoming and sent a strong message to the students by being invited and heard instead of facing repercussions. Unfortunately the same could not be said to a similar incident that occurred five weeks later.

Leader of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq (AAH), Qais Al-Khaz’ali visited Qadisiyah University on April 10, in an attempt at early election campaigning. Like Abadi before him, he was met with a group of students protesting his visit. This time the majority of the students were “left leaning” and anti-Islamist. They chanted anti-Iran and pro-nationalist slogans as they successfully prevented Khaz’ali from addressing the university. Unlike Abadi, Khaz’ali’s response however was not diplomatic. Later that night the office of the Iraqi Communist Party in Qadisiyah was attacked due to the fact that the students who had protested Khaz’ali were ideologically aligned with the left like the Communist party, though not necessarily associated with one another.