Some three thousand people took to the streets in mainly Shia Basra, demanding a referendum on whether the city and surrounding province might become a semi-autonomous state.

“Yes, yes for the Basra region,” demonstrators shouted.

Ahmed Ali, a 27-year-old civil servant, said Basra wanted to “cut the cord with the central government, which has brought us only trouble, poverty and unemployment”.

While the odds appeared long that such a bid could succeed, it reflects Iraqis’ deep discontent with the government in Baghdad and highlights the power struggle unfolding in a nation that is home to a volatile mix of religions and ethnicities.

Even as security improves across Iraq, the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shia, is criticised by many Iraqis for failing to deliver basic services and prosperity.

Some in Basra, which produces three-quarters of Iraq’s oil, see themselves marginalised by successive Baghdad governments since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003 and aspire to the same status as Iraqi Kurdistan.

Kurdistan, the northern region that has enjoyed de-facto autonomy since 1991, has its own parliament and security forces, but receives budget revenues from Baghdad.

Supporters of a referendum on Basra’s fate complained they were getting short shrift from Iraq’s Electoral Commission, which has been collecting signatures from among Basra’s 1.4 million voters needed to hold such a referendum.

According to the Iraqi constitution, any of its 18 provinces can hold such a referendum if it can muster signatures from 10 percent of voters.

Efforts to gather signatures began on Dec. 14, after Wa’il Abd al-Latif, a parliamentarian from Basra, presented a petition calling for a referendum.

Residents can participate in the signature drive until Jan. 14. Only 15,400 signatures have been collected so far.

Latif accused the Electoral Ccommission of improperly handling the signature drive. “It is not independent,” he said.

Tensions are rising in Iraq’s south as rival Shia politicians vie for support ahead of provincial elections on Jan. 31, Iraq’s first elections in more than three years.

A feud is also simmering between Baghdad and Arbil, the Kurdish capital, over control of vast oil reserves.

Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told tribal leaders in the largely Shia holy city of Kerbala on Saturday he would respect desires for power-sharing but resist separatism.

“We will not allow anyone to undermine the state or tear apart its unity,” he said. “We need a strong state.”

Some Shia Islamists, including some in Maliki’s own alliance, have called for an autonomous state covering the majority Shia south. Basra politicians say their drive is unrelated, and claim support from Sunnis and Christians.

Basra has made a few failed bids for autonomy since it was an Ottoman province.