Iraq: Soldiers, prisoners and IDPs head to polls early

Iraq's election began on Friday, but only for those in the security forces, prison inmates and people living in internal displacement camps. The remaining Iraqis will head to the polls on Sunday to cast their vote.

The weekend's election was moved forward six months in the wake of large-scale protests against the government in late 2019. Corruption, mismanagement and the fallout of the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) insurgency has left large swathes of the country's infrastructure in tatters and unemployment rife.

The vote will decide who gets to sit in the 329-seat legislature. It is expected that candidates from the Shiite majority will hold sway in the parliament. Despite talk of reforms, many activists have called for a boycott.

Friday's 'special balloting'

There were already long lines outside polling stations in some parts of the capital Baghdad. Major-General Saad Maan told news agency dpa that over 250,000 security personnel were in place to secure the polls.

More than 1 million displaced people were also eligible to vote on Friday. Most are living in camps in the north of the country, having fled from the conflict with IS. Many have said they do not plan to vote.

"I got married in the displacement camp where I live, and neither I nor my husband will vote," a 45-year-old woman told Reuters. "Politicians visited us before the last election [in 2018] and promised to help us return to our towns. That never materialized. We've been forgotten."

Iraq's political puzzle

Iraq has held several elections since the US invaded in 2003. This weekend represents the second since the government declared victory over IS. However, parliamentary factions remain torn between loyalties to Tehran and Washington.

Any prime minister, either the incumbent Mustafa al-Kadhimi or a replacement, would need the support of Shiite lawmakers. Shiites make up around 60% of the country and have dominated the legislature since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

But they too are split between the anti-Tehran Sadrist bloc, and the Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Forces, that is made up of Iran-aligned paramilitary groups.

Sunni Arabs and Kurds are also vying for influence. A quarter of the seats in Parliament have been reserved for women.

In the wake of deadly protests

Hundreds died during the 2019 protests which toppled the then government under former Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

The largely youth-led movement blamed the government for corruption and mismanagement that left large parts of the country without adequate water or electricity during the hot summer months.

Since then, dozens of anti-government activists have been killed, kidnapped or intimidated. Iraqi officials have said Iran is behind the groups carrying this out.

The protesters called for a complete overhaul of the political system which was introduced under the auspices of the US occupation.

The government introduced a new voting law that it said wouldbring more independent voices to the parliament and weaken the traditionally bigger parties, but activists, like many observers, believe that larger religious and ethnic factions will maintain their dominance.

The vote is "unlikely to serve as an agent of change," Ramzy Mardini of the University of Chicago's Pearson Institute told AFP. "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."

ab/msh (dpa, Reuters, AFP)