Supporters of the October (Tishreen) protest movement are uniting to take on Iraq’s political establishment. Groups that previously boycotted elections are now choosing to participate in the upcoming provincial polls scheduled for Dec. 18. The last such elections were held a decade ago, and provincial councils were dissolved by the parliament in 2019.

The Tishreen parties first emerged from the anti-establishment protests which erupted in the autumn of 2019. The unrest forced the early resignation of then-prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi (2018-20). However, the protests eventually declined due to the Covid-19 pandemic and violence.

To date, only a small number of parties that emerged from the street protests have made it into the parliament, with Imtidad and Ishraqet Kanoon being the most notable. Other pro-Tishreen groups, like Al-Bayt Al-Watani, which abstained from running in the 2021 parliamentary polls, have now announced their...