Hindustan Times (Amritsar)

Iraqis vote in election with little hope for change

- Agence France-Presse letters@hindustant­imes.com

BAGHDAD: Iraqis elect a new parliament on Sunday two years after a wave of anti-government protests swept the war-scarred country, but analysts say the vote is unlikely to deliver major change.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi’s political future hangs in the balance, with few observers willing to predict who will come out on top after the lengthy back-room haggling that usually follows Iraqi elections.

A new single-member constituen­cy system for electing Iraq’s 329 lawmakers is supposed to boost independen­ts versus the traditiona­l blocs largely centred on religious, ethnic and clan affiliatio­ns.

The election is being held a year early in a rare concession to the youth-led protest movement that broke out in 2019 against a political class widely blamed for graft, unemployme­nt and crumbling public services.

Hundreds died during the protests, and dozens more antigovern­ment activists have been killed, kidnapped or intimidate­d in recent months, with accusation­s pro-Iran armed groups have been behind the violence.

Many activists have urged a boycott of the polls, and record low turnout is predicted among Iraq’s 25 million eligible voters, while experts predict the main parties are likely to maintain their grip on power.

The vote is “unlikely to serve as an agent of change”, said Ramzy Mardini of the University of Chicago’s Pearson Institute.

“The election is meant to be a signal of reform, but ironically those advocating for reform are choosing to not participat­e... as a protest against the status quo.”

Security forces, displaced people and prisoners cast the first ballots in the election on Friday, two days before the rest of the country.

In Baghdad, there was a heavy security force presence outside polling stations.

 ?? AP ?? A campaign poster for parliament­ary elections is displayed near destroyed buildings from fighting in Mosul, Iraq.
AP A campaign poster for parliament­ary elections is displayed near destroyed buildings from fighting in Mosul, Iraq.

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