Iraqis vote in election unlikely to bring about real change
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.
Iraq is mired in corruption and economic crisis, and nearly a third of its people live in poverty despite the country’s oil wealth. The risk of violence is rising amid a proliferation of armed factions and a jihadist resurgence, even as the country tries to emerge from almost two decades of conflict.
A dozen Western governments including US and UK on Wednesday called on “all parties to respect the rule of law and the integrity of the electoral process”.