Iraqi Shia Muslim leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday called for early elections overseen by the UN, in a rare news conference outside his home in the southern city of Najaf.
Iraq is expected to hold early parliamentary elections this year, a central demand of an anti-government protest movement which erupted in 2019 and backed by al-Sadr’s supporters.
Appearing in a surgical mask and traditional clerical robes, al-Sadr warned against further delays.
“Delaying the elections would be a disaster for Iraq,” said al-Sadr, warning that rival parties would try to rig the vote.
“I don’t want fraud. That’s why I’m asking for UN intervention and supervision,” he said.
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Sulaimaniyah City, Iraq – Iraq’s leaders pushed to postpone parliamentary elections fearing public discontent would lead to their removal from power, an analyst with ties to the government says.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, President Barham Salih, and Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad al-Halbusi wanted a later vote over concerns about their prospects for re-election and sought to buy time, said Mohammad Bakhtiar, a Kurdish political analyst who meets regularly with Iraqi decision-makers.
“At least two of the three leaders of Iraq who favoured early election have realised that their chances of being re-elected are minimal,” Bakhtiar said.
In a bid to delay the elections, the three Iraqi leaders met on January 12 and later with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and election commission officials, he told Al Jazeera.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Ballot boxes are seen after a fire at a storage site in Baghdad, housing the boxes from Iraq s May parliamentary election, Iraq June 10, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s cabinet decided on Tuesday to postpone the general election to Oct. 10 from June, the state news agency INA said.
The government last year set a general election for June 6, 2021, roughly a year ahead of when it would normally be held, but Iraq’s Independent High Election Commission (IHEC) on Monday proposed it be delayed to October to allow more time to prepare.