Iraqi Sunni parties want vote delayed; sweep launched to flush out Daesh
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Sunni political parties have requested that the national parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15, 2018 be postponed. Sunni politicians told Arab News the parties have stipulated that displaced people should have the chance to return to their homes before the elections are held.
Around 2 million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes over the last three years as Daesh took over much of the country followed by military operations launched by the government to retake those areas. Most of the displaced people are living mainly in Kurdistan, Baghdad and the south. Others are living in camps on the borders of their provinces.
“Elections must be held in all areas, with the participation of all Iraqis,” Kamil Al-Ghurairi, a Sunni lawmaker and senior political leader, told Arab News.
“If the government is serious, it can return those (displaced people) to their areas before the scheduled date for the election, but there are many agendas preventing it,” Bahaa Al-Deen Al-Naqshbandi, deputy head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, told Arab News.
In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Abadi told reporters that the election would be held as scheduled and the view that the vote has to be postponed is “disrespectful.”
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces launched a sweep through the western desert to flush out remaining Daesh fighters on Thursday.
The arid, sparsely populated wastelands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are the last refuge of the terrorists in Iraq after troops and paramilitaries ousted them from all urban areas.
“The Iraqi Army, the federal police and Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization paramilitary units) this morning began clearing the Al-Jazeera region straddling Salaheddin, Nineveh and Anbar provinces,” the head of Joint Operations Command, Gen. Abdelamir Yarallah, said in a statement.