SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and President Barham Salih on Saturday stressed the importance of holding early elections on time.
Kadhimi met with Salih at the presidential palace in Baghdad on Saturday, according to a statement released by the premier’s office.
The prime minister briefed Salih on the results of his official visit to the United States and the outcomes of the strategic dialogue between the U.S. and Iraq.
Kadhimi paid a visit to the United States last Sunday to hold the fourth round of U.S.-Iraq strategic dialogue with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Biden and Kadhimi sealed an agreement formally ending the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021, more than 18 years after U.S. troops were sent to the country.
Salih praised the “results of the strategic dialogue with the United States and the distinguished efforts of Kadhimi and the government delegation,” the statement read.
The two sides stressed the importance of protecting Iraq’s security and stability and pursuing Islamic State (ISIS) militants that seek to destabilize the country.
Regarding early parliamentary elections, Kadhimi and Salih emphasized the “importance of the elections and holding them on the scheduled date, while providing all requirements for conducting them … in a manner that achieve the real will of the voters in choosing their representatives away from fraud and manipulation,” according to the statement.
Iraq is scheduled to hold early parliamentary elections on October 10, which was one of the main demands of anti-government protesters who organized months of mass demonstrations beginning in October 2020.
The vote is held every four years, but anti-government protesters demanded early elections.
