SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said October 10 when Iraqis are to elect a new parliament is the “opportunity” for change in the war-scarred country.
“Iraq counts on its youth for reform,” Kadhimi said in a tweet on Sunday night. “With their persistence on a better future, the elections will be a true national triumph.”
Kadhmi called on the Iraqi youths to vote for those who preserve Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and unique national identity.
“The 10th of October is the opportunity for change,” he added.
Iraqi voters are to elect a new parliament next Sunday in the fifth such vote since a U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A total of 329 seats are up for grabs in the election, which was moved forward from 2022 as a concession to youth-led pro-democracy protests that erupted in late 2019.
There are fears voter turnout could drop below the 44.5 percent figure registered in 2018.
More than 25 million citizens are eligible to vote. They are supposed to present a biometric card for what was conceived as a fully electronic voting process.
However, some voters have not received the cards and authorities say provisions have been made to ensure they are not excluded.
More than 3,240 candidates are in the running, including 950 women.
One quarter of seats are reserved for female candidates, and nine for minorities including Christians and Yazidis.
A new single-member constituency system is supposed to boost independents and reduce traditional political blocs, largely centered on religious, ethnic and clan affiliations.
Two days before polling day, voting will be organised for security forces, displaced citizens and prisoners. This year nationals living abroad will not be voting.
Groups from Iraq’s Shia Muslim majority have dominated since the overthrow of Saddam’s Sunni Arab-dominated government, but they are divided among themselves. There are also groups representing the Sunni Arab and Kurdish people in the Kurdistan Region.
