Iraq’s parliament will today begin the process of electing a new leader after the prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, resigned last week. His successor will have to cope with the severe unrest that is spreading across the country and which has pitched security forces against demonstrators for nearly two months. Fears are mounting that the country could unravel altogether.

Security forces killed at least 45 civilians who were protesting around the southern city of Nasiriyah on Thursday in one of the worst incidents in the recent outbreak of anti-government protests. The government’s actions were intended to be a show of brute force following the firebombing of the Iranian consulate in Najaf on Wednesday, an attack that was the strongest expression yet of the anti-Iranian sentiment by the Iraqi demonstrators.