WITH LITTLE HOPE FOR CHANGE, IRAQ HEADS TO VOTE IN EARLY ELECTION

Sun 10 October 2021:

Iraq’s early general elections kicked off on Sunday.

Security forces stepped up their patrols near polling stations to the highest level possible.

Voters will be inspected at checkpoints set up in front of polling booths, and mobile phones will not be permitted inside the buildings.

According to the official Iraqi News Agency, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi voted early Sunday in an electoral facility in the Green Zone.

“This is an opportunity for change,” he said.

“Get out there and vote, change your reality, for Iraq and for your future,” urged al-Kadhimi, whose political future hangs in the balance, with few observers willing to predict who will come out on top after the lengthy backroom haggling that usually follows Iraqi elections.

Polls opened at 7:00am (04:00 GMT) on Sunday but few voters turned up early at one polling station at a school in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

“I have come to vote to change the country for the better, and to change the current leaders who are incompetent,” said Jimand Khalil, 37, who was one of the first to cast her vote. “They made a lot of promises to us but didn’t bring us anything.”

Dozens of anti-government activists have been killed, kidnapped or intimidated over the last two years, with accusations that pro-Iran armed groups, many of which are represented in parliament, have been behind the violence.

The polls, which were held a year early in a rare concession to the youth-led protest movement, are expected to have a record-low turnout, according to analysts.

Airports have been closed until dawn on Monday across Iraq, where despite the government’s declaration of victory over the ISIL (ISIS) group in late 2017, sleeper cells continue to mount attacks.

“Iraqis should have the confidence to vote as they please, in an environment free of pressure, intimidation and threats,” the UN mission in Iraq said ahead of the polls.

Polls remain open until 6:00pm, with preliminary results expected within 24 hours of closing. Dozens of election observers deployed by the European Union and the United Nations were set to monitor the vote.

Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr casts his ballot as polls open in Najaf.

Sunday’s elections will see 3,249 candidates representing 21 coalitions and 109 parties vying for seats in the 329-member parliament.

The election commission said 24 million Iraqis are eligible to cast ballots out of a population of 40 million.

The vote will be supervised by 877 foreign observers.

On Friday, Iraqi security forces displaced Iraqis, and prisoners cast votes in the elections.

The Fateh Alliance, which represents many Shia militias backed by Iran, is expected to keep its seats.

The main lists can be divided into Shia, Sunni and Kurdish coalitions, with Shia parties being the most prominent due to their greater influence over Iraqi politics since 2005.

Muqtada al-list, Sadr’s which was already the largest in the outgoing parliament, is anticipated to gain support, but not enough to win the Shia camp.

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