Head of Iraq electoral commission defies protests and vows to stay

Head of Iraq electoral commission defies protests and vows to stay

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Iraqi security forces stand guard as supporters of the Sadrist movement gather during a demonstration in Baghdad's Tahrir Square on Saturday. Photo: AFP / Sabah Arar

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The head of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) Sarbast Rashid, a Kurd, vowed to stay on in his position following repeated calls from the followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for members of the commission to be changed, and violent protests in Baghdad on Saturday that resulted in at least six deaths including a member of the security forces.
 
“I will defend my institution, I swear [to do so], until the very end,” Rashid said, when asked whether he feels that his life will be in danger upon his return to Baghdad.
 
Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that an office of the commission was attacked with rockets in the southern city of Basra.
 
Rashid claimed that nobody has asked specifically for his resignation, adding that even when the demonstrators call for such resignations, they are only asking for “some faces” to be changed, he told Rudaw on Saturday night. 
 
The interview was conducted in Erbil. 
 
“It is up to the Kurdish leadership whether or not I should stay on,” he explained, noting that the call from the demonstrators is “political” in nature and has nothing to do with the commission. 
 
He said he wanted to resign on one occasion in 2013, but the Kurdish President Masoud Barzani had asked him to remain in his post.
 
Rashid downplayed the protesters on the streets in Baghdad as people who carry “banners” and throw accusations of corruption against the IHEC.
 
Iraq’s President Fouad Masum quickly announced on Saturday the completion of a draft regarding the election law, a key demand of the protesters, in consultations with various parliamentary factions, and hoped that the MPs would pass it soon.
 
Protests in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square turned violent on Saturday as some of the demonstrators tried to storm the Green Zone where many key state institutions and foreign diplomatic missions are located, including the election commission.
 
“These protesters are calling for the high electoral commission to be changed, which we believe is controlled by the ruling parties,” Sadr’s political spokesman Jawad al-Jiburi told Rudaw on Friday.
 
Ayad Shamari from the Sadrist faction in parliament told Rudaw that “The commission has lost the trust of people.”
 
“The Sadr Movement previously demanded that the election commission be changed as we believe the change is in the interests of the Iraqi people. This commission should be free from political interference. The protesters are demanding that the election commission, the election law, and the commission’s members be changed,” he added.
 
Rashid said in a statement on Wednesday that there are “legal procedures” to make changes both to the election law, and a change to the members of the commission, which could be done through the Iraqi parliament.
 
Rashid expressed his surprise that the protesters are calling for such changes while the current term for the commission members expires in seven months.
 
The next provincial elections are due in September.
 
A number of Katyusha rockets landed in and around the heavily-fortified Green Zone Saturday night, Iraq’s Joint Command stated, but there has not been any reports of casualties.