The legitimacy of the upcoming elections.. Opponents see it as less than 10%, while supporters are o

POSTED ON[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] BY [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

[size=52]The legitimacy of the upcoming elections.. Opponents see it as less than 10%, while supporters are optimistic about 40%.[/size]

[size=45][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The two sides of the political equation for the elections in Iraq differ over the extent of “societal legitimacy” that will be generated after participating in the upcoming provincial council elections, in light of talk of boycotting parties known for their popular support, most notably the Sadrist movement, which has the greatest popularity among Shiite circles and one of the most active actors in The Iraqi street, as well as independents and other parties.
[size=45]In the wake of unprecedented popular protests that reached their peak in the fall of 2019, the Iraqi Council of Representatives then voted to dissolve those councils and vote to end their work, which is among the demands of the demonstrators.[/size]
[size=45]The Election Commission announced on October 11, 2021, one day after the parliamentary elections, that the percentage of boycott of voting in the Iraqi legislative elections amounted to about 59%, while the “initial” participation rate was estimated at 41%, but it returned days later to say that the percentage of participation in the parliamentary elections reached 44% of more than 22 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots.[/size]
[size=45]According to these numbers, the boycott rate exceeded that recorded in 2018, while the head of the European Monitoring Mission, Viola von Cramon, considered the small voter rate “a clear political signal, and we can only hope that the political elite will pay attention to that.”[/size]
[size=45]The upcoming provincial council elections, scheduled for December 18, 2023, appear that the participation rate will not exceed the 2021 elections, according to current popular data, as the Sadrists and a number of independents and political parties such as the National Coalition led by Iyad Allawi, and other blocs and parties, boycott participation in the elections. Elections, and thus the issue of the “legitimacy” of political parties winning provincial council seats has become a “questionable matter” for many skeptics.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi authorities had announced the postponement of the provincial council elections from November 6 to December 18, 10 years after they were last held, according to an official statement issued by the Council of Ministers.[/size]
[size=45]“Participation will not exceed 10% of voters.”[/size]
[size=45]In this regard, the head of the Baghdad Center for Strategic Studies, Manaf Al-Musawi, told the Rudaw Media Network, “There is no constitutional or legal clause that determines the percentage of participation in the elections, and as a result, any participation will be accepted legally or constitutionally, and this is what the existing parties are working on or what They are called the parties of power.”[/size]
[size=45]Manaf Al-Moussawi added, “As a result, as a result of societal or political legitimacy, I do not believe today that a percentage of 10 or 15% can give legitimacy in the absence of 90 or 85% of voters, which is a defect, even if there is no legal rule that defines this issue, but it is As a result, there is a defect.”[/size]
[size=45]The head of the Baghdad Center for Strategic Studies explains that “the defect appears clear in one way or another, and the political blocs are very aware, even those that insist or pretend that they want to hold elections and they will take place at the specified time. They know that the lack of participation of the Sadrist movement, as well as the lack of participation of independents and some blocs.” The basic coalition, such as the National Coalition headed by Iyad Allawi and the rest, means that the participation rate will not exceed 10%.”[/size]
[size=45]These elections include 15 out of 18 governorates, as there are three governorates within the Kurdistan Region that are not included in the elections.[/size]
[size=45]Manaf Al-Moussawi points out, “By a simple mathematical calculation, the previous participation with the Sadrist movement, with the independents, and with the presence of Iyad Allawi, achieved 20% of the number of voters, but today the absence of these parties means that at least half of the previous participants will not participate in the upcoming elections.”[/size]
[size=45]Manaf Al-Moussawi believes that, “With 10% participation, there will be no real legitimacy, and in the absence of this public boycotting the elections, due to the presence of a crisis of confidence between the political blocs and the voters, and the lack of real credibility between these blocs and the popular bases and voters.”[/size]
[size=45]“I think that everyone, even if some pretend that they want to hold elections, but they do not want to hold them at this time, and they want to give room or are trying to persuade the Sadrist movement and the rest of the other forces to participate,” according to Manaf al-Moussawi, who points out that “the participation of the Sadrist movement means that “A lot of the silent majority will probably participate.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
The head of the Baghdad Center for Strategic Studies believes that “there is clear confidence among the silent majority that the Sadrist movement is honest, and that its participation gives them confidence to participate in the elections, and thus it will be a competition with the blocs that work on their partisan interests and do not work on national interests.”[/size]
[size=45]According to the final results, the Sadrist movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, before he later withdrew, won the largest number of parliamentary seats, winning 73 seats in the 329-seat parliament, after the Sadrist movement had 54 seats in the previous parliament.[/size]
[size=45]“The Sadrist movement is part of the people, not all of them.”[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, member of the Al-Hikma Movement, Ahmed Al-Issawi, tells Rudaw Media Network, “The elections do not take away from the legitimacy of the participation of all political blocs,” explaining that “the symbol of democracy is the non-participation of all political blocs in the elections.”[/size]
[size=45]Ahmed Al-Issawi believes that “legitimacy is taken from the people who see that there is an electoral movement, and it is taken from the large participation in the elections,” referring to the Sadrist movement as “part of the Iraqi people, not all of them.”[/size]
[size=45]A member of the Al-Hikma Movement points out that “the Prime Minister will not participate in the elections, for the purpose of opening the way for other political blocs to participate, and also so that he is not a prime minister with sole power and most of the provincial councils are his,” believing that this is “a symbol of democracy” in The country.[/size]
[size=45]“The elections are underway, and this is a government decision, and the decision of the state administration coalition together, and legitimacy is determined by the number of participants, not by the number of participating blocs,” according to Ahmed Al-Issawi, who stated that “if participation in the previous elections was 20%, this means that all political blocs do not have an audience.” “.[/size]
[size=45]Ahmed Al-Issawi also believes that “there must be a large participation, as they said that the percentage is 40%, and it is important that all segments of the Iraqi people participate in the upcoming elections, as the number of people who updated their electoral cards reached 60-70% of the Iraqi people, and this is something “Good.” He expected the participation rate in the upcoming elections to be “more than 30 or 40%.”[/size]
[size=45]According to the Iraqi Constitution, provincial councils have broad powers, as they are not subject to the control or supervision of any ministry or entity not linked to a ministry, and they have broad administrative and financial powers.[/size]
[size=45][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq recently excluded 170 candidates from the provincial council elections for violating candidacy conditions, as 163 of those excluded were included in accountability and justice procedures, while the authenticity of the documents of 7 others was not proven.[/size]

[/size]