Damascus-SANA
Iraqi voters are heading to the polling stations tomorrow to cast their votes in the early parliamentary elections, after Iraq entered the stage of electoral silence today and the end of the special voting stage for members of the army, police, displaced people and prison inmates yesterday, which witnessed good participation.
The current elections are taking place in light of intense competition between the Iraqi parliamentary parties and blocs, after 3 months of electoral campaigns, and according to a new electoral law on the basis of unilateral voting, with the number of districts raised to 83, while the number of members of the House of Representatives is 329.
The Iraqi authorities have completed all preparations for holding the elections, as the number of eligible voters is 24,907 thousand, while the number of candidates is about 3,243, including about 951 women, according to the High Elections Commission.
Iraqi officials called for broad participation in the fifth parliamentary elections, amid a state of widespread anticipation regarding what will result and the positive effects that the Iraqi people are looking forward to on various tracks, whether inside or outside Iraq.
Iraqi President Barham Salih stressed, during his speech at the thirteenth Islamic Day Conference for the Elimination of Violence against Women held in Baghdad recently, that the upcoming legislative elections should be a gateway to the production of legislative and executive authorities that work to achieve reform to overcome problems in the political process and fight corruption.
For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said in a televised speech yesterday evening, “We hope for wide participation in the upcoming elections,” adding that we are facing a historic opportunity that should not be lost for comprehensive reform and the election of the fittest in the upcoming parliamentary elections, indicating that the voting process for the parliamentary elections for the military and security forces that took place yesterday It is a successful first step towards broad participation of our people in the public vote to complete the national duty and make change.
The legislative elections for Iraqis abroad did not take place in this session due to the lack of capabilities. Yesterday, during the first phase of the parliamentary elections, 1,075,727 members of the army, police and security institutions voted, in addition to 120,126 displaced people and 676 inmates in prisons.
The Iraqi constitution, which was approved in 2005, stipulates that legislative elections be held every 4 years, which was actually achieved in 4 previous parliamentary sessions, while it was decided to hold the current elections early a year before their date, after the events in the country in 2019.
Mohammed Jassim
