Iraqis head to the polls
Election is the first since country declared victory over IS
BAGHDAD: Iraq headed to the polls for its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State group, with the country hoping to shore up a fragile peace and rebuild.
Voters across the war-scarred nation cast their ballots yesterday under tight security, as the militants still pose a major security threat despite a sharp fall in violence.
The poll comes with tensions surging between key powers Iran and the United States after Washington pulled out of a key 2015 nuclear deal, sparking fears of a destabilising power struggle in Iraq.
Roughly 24.5 million voters face a fragmented political landscape five months after IS was ousted, with the dominant Syiah split, the Kurds in disarray and Sunnis sidelined.
Over 15 blood-sodden years since the US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein, disillusionment is widespread and politics is dominated by old faces from an elite seen as mired in corruption and sectarianism.
At a polling station in the Baghdad district of Karrada, 74-year-old Sami Wadi appealed for change “to save the country”.
“I call on all Iraqis to participate in the elections to prevent those who have controlled the nation since 2003 from staying in power,” the retiree said.
In the former IS bastion, second city Mosul – still partially in ruins from the months-long fight to oust the group – residents hoped for an uptick in their fortunes as they struggle to put their lives back together.
“I am voting for security and the economy to stabilise and for a better future,” said labourer Ali Fahmi, 26.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi – who took office as IS rampaged across Iraq in 2014 – is angling for a new term, claiming credit for defeating the militants and seeing off a Kurdish push for independence.
But competition from within his Syiah community, the majority group dominating Iraqi politics, should divide the vote and spell lengthy horse-trading to form any government.
Whoever emerges as premier will face the mammoth task of rebuilding a country left shattered by the battle against IS – with donors already pledging US$30bil (RM120bil)
More than two million people remain internally displaced and IS – which has threatened the polls -maintains the capacity to launch deadly attacks.