Furious anti-government youth in Iraq’s capital and south on Sunday rejected the nomination of Mohammad Allawi as prime minister but came up against rival sit-ins by supporters of an influential cleric backing the new premier.

Allawi was named prime minister-designate after a hard-won consensus among Iraq’s rival parties, who had struggled to agree on a candidate since outgoing prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned under growing street pressure two months ago.

Mass rallies have rocked Baghdad and the mainly-Shiite south since October, with protesters demanding snap elections and an independent prime minister as well as accountability for corruption and recent bloodshed.

Young demonstrators have expressed contempt for the ruling elite and on Sunday, they slammed Allawi – a former lawmaker and minister – as part and parcel of the system they want to overhaul.

“We are here to reject the new prime minister because he has a well-known history within the political class,” said 22-year-old university student Tiba protesting in Baghdad.

Hundreds of students flooded the streets around the capital’s main protest camp of Tahrir Square, carrying pictures of Allawi with an “X” over his face.

They blared upbeat Arabic music through speakers to drown out sombre Islamic hymns played by demonstrators loyal to populist cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Sadr backed the protests in October but has split with the main movement over Allawi, whose designation he welcomed as a “good step”.

Dozens of hardcore Sadrists responded by storming a key Baghdad building known as the Turkish restaurant, a symbol of the uprising, to drive out activists and remove banners listing their demands.