Al-Monitor: Threats and assassinations discourage the new blocs from participating in the elections

[size=52]Al-Monitor: Threats and assassinations discourage the new blocs from participating in the elections[/size]

[size=45]Activists and groups of young people who joined the political arena in Iraq during the past few months talked about the risks of assassination they face because of their decision to enter the electoral campaign competitions to be held on the tenth of October of this year.[/size]
[size=45]Threats and assassinations forced them to withdraw from the election campaign. This situation, on the other hand, put pressure on Iraq's political leadership to acknowledge the existence of an armed threat.[/size]
[size=45]On May 20, the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, stressed the need for a safe environment to hold early elections, calling for the accountability and prosecution of the killers of activists and journalists.[/size]
[size=45]Saeed Jasani, an activist from Wasit province, says that he announced his withdrawal from the elections for reasons related to threats he had received, as well as preventing him from entering his area and posting pictures of his electoral campaign.[/size]
[size=45]Candidates felt an increased threat of assassination, following the murder of Ihab al-Wazani, a well-known activist from Karbala province, on May 9. Some of the political blocs have begun to feel the danger of assassinations that may affect independent and moderate candidates who compete in the near future with parties with financial and political influence or armed groups. On May 9, the head of the Iraqi bloc, Ammar al-Hakim, called on members of his parliamentary bloc to summon security leaders, in order to find out what steps they have taken to identify those involved in the kidnapping and assassination of activists and media professionals.[/size]
[size=45]Following al-Hakim's call, former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned of the consequences of the low indicators of the security elections, in a clear indication of the withdrawal of candidates from parties and groups that were formed in the wake of the October protests.[/size]
[size=45]Hussein Al-Ghurabi, founder of the National House Party, which emerged from the protest movement, told Al-Monitor, “Before the killing of Al-Wazani, we indicated that any democratic elections must be held according to the foundations of electoral justice and within a safe electoral environment. We will not give legitimacy to a regime at a time when the government has not identified the killers of activists and protesters.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Gharabi said that at the time of Wazni's assassination, they decided to boycott the entire political system, not just the elections.[/size]
[size=45]The boycott of the elections was not limited to parties formed after the protests. Other secular parties such as the Iraqi Communist Party and the People's Reform Party and other legislative forces such as the Iraqi Union for Labor and Rights all boycotted the elections.[/size]
[size=45]Jassem Al-Hilfi, a prominent member of the Communist Party, said that “the assassination of activists and the proliferation of weapons, which the official security apparatus cannot control, are in themselves an indication that there is no safe environment for the elections.”[/size]
[size=45]Iraqi politicians said that a number of candidates received death threats if they did not withdraw from the elections. Most of these are independents who decided to enter the electoral campaign either independently or on the lists of parties that emerged from the protest movement.[/size]
[size=45]Abbas al-Anbouri, head of the Baghdad Center for Public Policy, did not deny, in his interview with Al-Monitor, that the parties that emerged from the protests were subject to assassinations and pressure. Nevertheless, he believes that the threat of assassination is not the main reason behind the withdrawals, but there are reasons related to funding and other electoral requirements that they cannot cover.[/size]
[size=45]"The nature of the withdrawals was based on the belief of the new parties that the requirements are too many and that they cannot compete with large parties that have a lot of money and experience," al-Anbouri said. The withdrawal of secular forces, as well as groups that emerged from the protests, means that the protests will return with all their energy during the next stage. These young people did not find hope in the constitutional and democratic mechanism, especially through the ballot boxes.[/size]
[size=45]Groups of protesters, youth and activists say that they will resume activity in the squares to impose themselves on the ground. They think none of their demands have been met. They say that even when it comes to the demand for early elections, the unsafe and unstable environment does not allow the holding of fair and impartial elections.[/size]
[size=45]However, the Electoral Commission rejected the candidates' attempts to withdraw from the elections. According to the Commission's opinion, the parties that submitted candidates are not entitled to withdraw them according to the Elections Law of 2020.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi House bloc took a position to boycott the elections after the Wazni assassination, and announced that it would call on other blocs to boycott the elections as well.[/size]
[size=45]Nevertheless, although the withdrawals will not affect the legitimacy of the elections or their recognition at the global level, they will increase the gap between the people and the political system.[/size]
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