Record-low turnout in first Iraq elections since the defeat of ISIS
BAGHDAD — Iraq saw a record low turnout on Saturday in its first elections since the collapse of the Islamic State group, pointing to widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country under Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and presaging a long period of deal-making as politicians squabble over posts in a new government.
There were no bombings at any polling stations — a first since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.
Al-Abadi called it a “historic day, spent peacefully by all Iraqis.”
Riyadh al-Badran, a member on Iraq’s national elections commission, said turnout was 44 percent. No election since 2003 saw turnout below 60 percent. More than ten million Iraqis voted.
With no clear front-runner, it could take months for a new Parliament to form a government name a prime minister seen as suitable to the country’s rival Shiite political currents, who have adopted diverging positions on Iran.
The low turnout could open the door to Sunni-led and Kurdish electoral lists to play an outsized role in the negotiations, as well. Iraq’s population is predominantly Shiite.
Results were expected within 48 hours, according to the electoral commission.
Despite presiding over Iraq’s war on the Islamic State group, al-Abadi was opposed by other Shiite leaders who eclipsed him in charisma and popularity. In his first term, Al-Abadi courted both U.S. and Iranian support in the war on ISIS.
His chief rivals were former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Hadi al-Amiri, who heads the powerful, Iran-backed Badr Organization militia, which participated in the war on IS. Al-Abadi was also opposed by the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a staunch nationalist who has railed against U.S. and Iranian influence in Iraqi politics.
Iraq is beset by chronic corruption, a sputtering economy and failing public services.
“The candidates have not done anything for the people,” said Ramadan Mohsen, 50, who said he cast a blank vote in Baghdad’s distressed Sadr City slums.
Millions of others decided to abstain altogether.
“I am certain these elections are a failure,” said Abdelghani Awni, who was at a central Baghdad polling station as an observer. He did not vote. “Forget about change, from the perspective of the economy, of services -— forget about it.”
Iraq’s most senior Shiite cleric spoke out on the issue of voter participation Saturday afternoon, encouraging Iraqis to vote “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,” said Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai, the representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, on local Iraqi television from Karbala.
Some in Baghdad complained of voting irregularities at polling stations linked to a new electronic voting system implemented for the first time this year in an effort to reduce fraud.
Former Prime Minister alMaliki said he was aware of “violations” at some polling stations in Iraq and complained the process lacked proper oversight.
Thamer Aref, 45, along with his wife and daughter, were turned away from a polling station north of central Baghdad.
Aref had turned in his old voter ID card months ago for the biometric identification card required by the new system. However, Aref ’s biometric card wasn’t ready ahead of Saturday and, with neither card, the polling station did not allow him to a cast a ballot. “I lost my right to vote,” he said. Associated Press journalists documented several similar cases at a number of different polling stations across Baghdad Saturday morning.
Amira Muhammed, the supervisor of a polling station in Azamiyah, Baghdad, said some people couldn’t vote because they did not pick up their new biometric ID cards in time.