Do the Iraqi political blocs really intend to hold the second early elections?

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[size=52]Do the Iraqi political blocs really intend to hold the second early elections?[/size]

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04-17-2024
There has been talk recently about a parliamentary movement to amend the election law in preparation for holding early legislative elections in Iraq, while the Parliamentary Legal Committee confirms that the talk in this regard is “political and media” only, and it has not received a request from inside or outside the committee in this regard, Electoral specialists also rule out holding early parliamentary elections due to the lack of any preparations for them.[/size]
[size=45]A member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Raed Al-Maliki, says, “The committee has not noticed so far any parliamentary movement to submit a proposed law or draft law related to amending the election law, nor has any request related to amending the election law reached the Legal Committee, neither from within the committee nor from outside it. Political and media talk only.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, “But from a constitutional and legal standpoint, there is no objection to amending the election law. It is like any law that can be amended if a proposal to do so is presented in accordance with the legal contexts and accompanied by signatures, as happened in the third amendment. The same is true if a draft law comes from the government. In both cases, there is no “What constitutionally and legally prevents the election law from being amended.”[/size]
[size=45]He continued, “As for the political aspect, there is talk that the many changes and amendments to the electoral law affect the stability of the political system, and this is what was previously pointed out by objecting to the 2020 election law and calling for the continuation of the individual system and giving room for its effects to appear after a period of time, but Others did not respond to this, claiming that that system caused instability in the political system, and currently the same parties that were defending change despite the short period at the time, are now talking about the impermissibility of changing the election law on the grounds that it does not lead to political stability.”[/size]
[size=45]The representative points out, “The real reason behind not wanting to change the election law is that the political blocs have gained, and they deal with the law to the extent that it brings their interests.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Maliki explains that “postponing the elections from a constitutional standpoint is not permissible, because the country will enter into a constitutional vacuum when the session of the House of Representatives ends in the tenth month of next year 2025, and then the government will turn into a caretaker and the House of Representatives will no longer be able to carry out its work. Therefore, postponing the elections.” “It is not possible. As for submitting elections, it is possible by requesting the dissolution of Parliament, and this is subject to constitutional procedures and contexts, but it cannot be postponed or extended.”[/size]
[size=45]Specialists attribute the difficulty of holding early elections to the presence of many problems related to the electoral law and the electoral system in general, which confirms the need for a comprehensive review of this system in all its details.[/size]
[size=45]In this context, the former Deputy Chairman of the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq, Saad Al-Rawi, says, “The electoral cycle according to the constitution and the law is 4 years, but any paragraph in the electoral law or in the constitution that is not clearly detailed is interpreted in favor of the political actor, and this “It is a problem in the electoral system.”[/size]
[size=45]The narrator explains in an interview, “The Iraqi election law consists of only 25 pages, although it includes elections for the House of Representatives and the provincial councils, while the Australian election law, for example, consists of 522 pages, and when early elections are held in the aforementioned country, the new parliament is established after 36 One day from the dissolution of the old parliament, while the formation of the government only takes a few days, and Iraqi law does not detail this matter.”[/size]
[size=45]He adds, “Also, the mandate of the Council of Commissioners ends at the beginning of next July, and no party has the right to extend its work in accordance with the Commission’s law, but it was previously extended by the House of Representatives, and the current question is whether there will be another extension or will a council be formed.” New commission?[/size]
[size=45]He points out that “the Election Commission in Tunisia, for example, replaces two members of the Board of Commissioners every two years, and in this way the Council is permanently integrated, while in Iraq the entire Council is dissolved, a new Council is brought in, and then there are workshops and courses from organizations.” International, especially from the United Nations, for the new council to be able to implement an electoral process.”[/size]
[size=45]Among other problems, Al-Rawi says, “There are more than 500 employees with a special rank from division head and above (department head, assistant general director, general director, members of the Commission Board). All of them have been removed from their positions, and this is a problem that hinders holding early elections.” .[/size]
[size=45]He continues, “There are also many differences in the electoral law, from the registration of districts, the distribution of seats, the type of bloc, the electoral list, and whether or not Saint-Lego remains. These are all problems that are not detailed in the law.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Rawi stresses the necessity of “conducting a comprehensive review of the electoral system in all its details, the electoral system, the political parties law, the election law, the replacement law, and the electoral commission law.”[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the former Director General of the Operations Department of the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq, Walid Al-Zaidi, confirms that “the first early elections that took place in Iraq were in 2021, and reports of efforts to hold a second early election are just talk and unofficial statements.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Zaidi added in an interview, “Holding early elections requires that they be preceded by coordination between the blocs, and it may be at the request of the Sadrist movement, as it has begun to give signals to return to the political process, and it may not wait for the term of the current House of Representatives to end in the tenth month of next year, and if the agreement is reached, it will be “There are preparations for the elections.”[/size]
[size=45]He explains, “Holding elections requires 8 to 10 months of preparation, including amending the election law and updating the registry, biometrics, and electoral cards.”[/size]
[size=45]In turn, the head of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies, Ali Al-Sahib, says, “The parliamentary elections that are held every 4 years witness in each electoral cycle a wave of controversy and confusion from all parties. Each party seeks to benefit from it to its advantage, and this lies through (a single district or districts) multiple)”.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sahib continues his speech, “The amended St. Legault election law (1.9/1.7) is in fact tailored to the size of the large blocs with influence, political money, and the public. Despite all that, these blocs are seeking to try to change the provisions of this law, even if St. “LEGO is a mathematical equation for distributing seats to members of Parliament.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sahib considers that, “Going to early elections and changing people and positions is a joke used by politicians in their free time. There are no early elections and they do not feel sad. In Iraq, ‘everyone cries for the night’.”[/size]
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