International agencies: Iraq hopes to carry out real reforms through elections

[size=52]International agencies: Iraq hopes to carry out real reforms through elections[/size]

[size=45]Translated by Hamid Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]Amidst tight security measures, Iraqi voters headed Sunday to the polls to elect a new parliament, which many hope will introduce necessary reforms after years of wars and mismanagement, as Iraq closed its airspace and border crossings in general elections that are a critical test for its democratic system.[/size]
[size=45]The polls opened at seven in the morning local time, as a polling station in a school building in central Baghdad witnessed the arrival of a small number of voters in the first hours of voting.[/size]
[size=45]Gemand Khaled, 37, who was one of the first to vote, said, “I came to vote for a change in my country for the better, and for the sake of changing the current incompetent leaders. They promised us many promises, but they did not achieve anything.”[/size]
[size=45]Amer Fadel, 22, another voter from the Karrada district in central Baghdad, said, “I vote because there is a need for change. I do not want these same faces to remain, nor do I want the same parties to come back again.”[/size]
[size=45]Tight security measures witnessed in the capital, Baghdad, punctuated by overflights of combat planes that roamed the skies of Baghdad, while voters were searched twice at the polling stations. The polls remained open until six o'clock in the evening, when preliminary results are expected to be announced within 24 hours of closing time. The European Union has deployed dozens of election observers, as well as other cadres from the United Nations who have been deployed to monitor the voting proceedings.[/size]
[size=45]Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi cast his vote early in the Green Zone, urging Iraqis to vote, "This is an opportunity for change, go out to the polling stations and cast your votes, change your reality, for the sake of Iraq and for your future."[/size]
[size=45]Addressing the skeptics and the hesitant, Al-Kazemi said, "I address the hesitant, put your trust in God and go to choose the ones you see fit. This is our chance for reform."[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Qassem, 45, a daily wage laborer from Baghdad, questions the feasibility of the elections and is among those who refuse to vote. He says, “Nothing will change. The same parties that people protested against will win the elections.”[/size]
[size=45]In the 2018 elections, the percentage of registered voters was 44%, and the lowest voter turnout was at the time. Observers fear that this may be the case in these elections.[/size]
[size=45]The elections were supposed to be held according to the constitutional dates on their scheduled date next year, but they were presented in response to popular protests in the capital, Baghdad, in October 2019, as well as the southern provinces. Tens of thousands of citizens, mostly young people, took to the streets to protest against rampant corruption, poor services and high unemployment rates. These crowds were confronted with deadly force by security forces who fired live fire and tear gas canisters, during which nearly 600 people were killed and thousands were wounded within a few months.[/size]
[size=45]3,449 candidates are competing for 329 parliamentary seats, which will be the sixth elections since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.[/size]
[size=45]It is the first elections since 2003 to be held without a curfew, which reflects the significant improvement in the security situation in the country after the defeat of the terrorist organization ISIS in 2017. Previous elections were accompanied by deadly conflicts and bombings that the country has suffered for decades.[/size]
[size=45]It is also the first to be held according to a new electoral law that divides Iraq into smaller electoral districts, which is another demand for activists participating in the 2019 protests, and also makes room for more independent candidates.[/size]
[size=45]More than 250,000 security personnel have been deployed across the country tasked with protecting the voting process. Army, police and anti-terror forces were deployed and deployed outside the voting stations, some of which were surrounded by barbed wire. The voter is inspected before entering the polling station.[/size]
[size=45]After years the Iraqis lived while watching the ruling political parties failed to provide services and did not implement reforms within an ineffective administrative performance, they came out today, Sunday, to test the extent of voters' confidence in the Iraqi political system. According to the Independent High Electoral Commission, there are more than 25 million registered voters.[/size]
[size=45]Politicians in Sunni-majority areas promised during their election campaigns to help rebuild areas devastated during the years-long battles against ISIS.[/size]
[size=45]At a polling station in one of the capital's districts, voters said they fear that the elections will not lead to any change.[/size]
[size=45]Arshad Yasser, 40, said, “I vote for a newly formed party of activists. I hope that this time will not disappoint me, but I am optimistic. People have not learned the lesson over the past 18 years that all post-2003 politicians are bad and corrupt.”[/size]
[size=45]"I aspire to see real change," Yasser added. I want to see Iraq free of weapons and its people go instead to work, build, develop infrastructure, and go to industry and agriculture.”[/size]
[size=45]Prominent religious references in Iraq came forward to support the electoral process and encourage participation in it. The supreme religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, called for wide participation in the vote, pointing out that voting remains the best way for Iraqis to contribute to shaping the future of their country.[/size]
[size=45]Meanwhile, voters in the Kurdistan region went to cast their votes, and among the first to vote in the capital of the Kurdistan region, Erbil, the region's president, Nechirvan Barzani, called on Iraqis to unite for the good of their country, hoping that these elections would provide a better future for Iraq, and he said in a brief statement After the vote, “I hope that after the elections are over, the parties in Kurdistan will unite their votes in favor of the rights of the Kurdistan region within a federal Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]In the city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, the cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, cast his vote and then left the polling station without making a statement, and al-Sadr had achieved the highest percentage of seats in the 2018 elections.[/size]
[size=45]According to the Independent High Electoral Commission, there are 570 polling stations scattered in the Kurdistan region, which will receive one million and 275,000 voters. There are also 146 candidates competing for 46 parliamentary seats.[/size]
[size=45]In the city of Sinjar, where the Yazidis live, who suffered greatly from the consequences of ISIS’s occupation of their areas in 2014, there are those who question the feasibility of voting, while others are calling on them to vote for renewal.[/size]
[size=45]One of the Yezidis from the Sinjar region says, “For the Yezidis, this election is very important and it is different from the previous ones. There are many independent candidates, and candidates can be chosen by their names.”[/size]
[size=45]Another voter from Sinjar said, "We are happy to see new candidates. We want the young class of Yazidis to realize their ambitions.”[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, analysts and observers point out that Iraq's parliamentary elections are likely to produce the same outcome as the previous elections. Many analysts warned that it is important for European countries to be realistic about the Iraqi government's ability to activate reforms.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq's next coalition government will include blocs and groups with different directions, as it is expected that the country will continue to try hard to find a solution and confront chronic challenges that have caused internal turmoil. Although Prime Minister Al-Kazemi has met the protesters' demands to hold early elections and amend the election law, it is expected that these elections will produce a comprehensive reform that the protesters wish for the Iraqi political system.[/size]
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