Iraq’s summer election will be delayed over ‘technical problems,’ electoral body says

The Iraqi government may delay proposed early elections for months despite the demands of the pro-reform protest movement, internal documents from the country’s electoral commission said.

A few weeks after taking office in May, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi proposed holding a poll on June 6 this year, 12 months earlier than scheduled.

But political parties and parliament have not endorsed that date, despite the approval of a new electoral law.

In a document leaked to local media on Sunday, the country’s Independent Electoral Commission suggested the new date of October 16 “in order to hold fair, transparent and comprehensive elections”.

It cites technical problems that make holding the elections in June unfeasible and said it must extend the deadline for registering candidates and political coalitions, to give the UN experts and international monitors ample time to organise and for authorities to update voter data.

Another challenge to early elections is a delay passing a bill to fill seats on the Federal Court, which, owing to political differences, must ratify results.

An official with the Independent Electoral Commission confirmed the authenticity of the document to The National.

Baghdad has been reeling from social unrest since October 2019, when Iraqis took to the streets to denounce corruption, unemployment and worsening public services.

Among their demands were the removal of the ruling political elite that has been in place since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, and to hold early elections based on a new law that gives independent and civil society candidates a better chance against established parties.

The months-long protests, in which hundreds of protesters were killed and thousands wounded, forced the previous government to resign and the parliament to pass the new electoral law allowing independent candidates to sit inside the legislative body.

But for the activists still demanding change, any move to delay the vote has nothing to do with technical hitches.

“It is obvious that the [electoral] commission is influenced by the political atmosphere in the country and that it takes into consideration the will of the big political parties,” activist Hashim Al Jabouri said.

“These big political parties and the government want more time to rearrange themselves in light of the new election law.”

Mr Al Jabouri said he sees the suggested date for early elections as a trap to placate protesters and end the rallies.

But the delay appeared to earn the support of the main political blocs in parliament.

MP Sabah Al Okaili of the Sairoon Bloc, which is backed by the populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, said it does not object to delaying elections but the hold-up must be short.

“Sairoon will not pressure the commission in order to let the process [move] in the right direction,” Mr Al Okaili said.

“But the delay must not be for more than three months, otherwise we reject any date.”

In past elections, Iraq was one constituency and all parties took seats depending on their share of the national vote. Activists said this hinders independents or local parties who lack the well-funded national campaigns of major blocs.

Under the new law, Iraq will be divided into constituencies and political parties will not be able to run unified lists allowing them to sweep seats.

It maintains the female quota, comprising at least a quarter of parliament’s seats, and the quota to ensure representation for religious minorities, including Christians and Yazidis.