SULAIMANI (ESTA) — More than 200 political parties have so far registered their names to participated in the upcoming early elections in Iraq, the country’s electoral commission said on Tuesday.
Spokesman of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) Jumana al-Ghalai said the commission had registered 30 coalitions and 249 parties to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10.
She added that 58 other new parties might be established and 86 others had visited the electoral commission to participate in the elections.
“But they haven’t registered their names yet,” she continued.
On January 17, the IHEC spokesperson said more than 25 million people are eligible to vote in the elections, but only 15 million voters had so far registered in the biometric system.
The vote is held every four years, but anti-government protesters demanded early elections.
In July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for early elections to take place on June 6, 2021, which was one of the main demands of anti-government protesters who organized months of mass demonstrations beginning in October 2020.
But the Iraqi government postponed the elections to October 10, after the IHEC asked the prime minister to delay the voting to Oct. 16 in an effort to complete technical preparations.
