Iraq’s election passes peacefully as PM tipped to win
IRAQIS went to the polls yesterday for their first parliamentary elections since the defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), with the incumbent prime minister trying to fend off rivals with close links to Iran.
The remnants of Isil in Iraq had threatened to attack polling stations but no major incidents were reported.
However, turnout appeared to be low and an electronic voting system designed to stop election fraud meant that some voters were turned away and unable to cast their ballots.
Haider al-Abadi, the incumbent prime minister, is considered the slight favourite to hold on to power but analysts said it was too close to call.
Mr Abadi has been prime minister since 2014 and many Iraqis credit him with the defeat of Isil. He also made an effort to ease tension between Shias and Sunnis, and taken a hard line against Kurdish efforts to win independence. But Mr Abadi is lacking in charisma and has struggled to curb corruption and revive Iraq’s economy.
His two main rivals – former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and Shia militia commander Hadi al-Amiri – are both seen as closer to Iran than Mr Abadi. All three men are Shia, the majority group in Iraq.
Mr Maliki was forced from power in 2014 and many Sunni Iraqis believe his policies discriminated against them and created the conditions for Isil to sweep across the country.
Mr Amiri leads the Badr Organisation, a political party born out of an Iranian-backed Shia militia. The armed wing of the party, led by Iranian commanders, played a key role in driving Isil out of Iraq.
By yesterday afternoon it appeared that Isil had failed to follow through on its threats against the election. Iraq’s government reopened the country’s
airspace and eased security restrictions in Baghdad, where most civilians cars had been banned from the streets.
Mr Abadi’s office released photographs of him going to a polling station in Baghdad and submitting himself to the same pat down by security guards as other Iraqi voters.
However, Thamer Aref, 45, along with his wife and daughter, were turned away from a polling station north of central Baghdad.
Voters went to the polls in Mosul, a city largely in ruins. “We need new faces not this group of corrupt politicians currently in Baghdad,” said Ahmed Noor, a shop owner.
Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai, Iraq’s most senior Shia cleric, urged voters to go to the polls “to prevent the arrival of a corrupt parliament”.
“The lack of participation will give the opportunity for others to reach parliament and they will be very far from the aspirations of the people,” he said.