Pivotal election for Iraq

Wesam Bahrani
Press TV, Baghdad

It’s quite difficult to recognize the streets of Baghdad by the sheer number of posters. Iraq is very close to a pivotal point for its future. The country is heading to the ballot boxes on Sunday for the second time in three years and these are the faces of more than 3,200 candidates hoping their campaign did the job to win the most votes. Press TV visited one of around 600 polling stations across the country where early special voting for some groups is taking place.

This election, slated for next year, had been called early following months of protests in October 2019 that led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Adel-Abdul Mehdi.

The current PM Mustafa al-Khadhimi has reformed the electoral system in an attempt to wipe out corruption and allegations of voting fraud, a key demand of the protesters. The outgoing parliament heeded that call by passing new legislation. This includes less constituencies and an electronic voting system. The man al-Khadhimi has tasked with this job is optimistic.

Many challenges face the next government; these include improving living standards, providing vital services, lowering that unemployment rate; especially among the youth, 60-percent of Iraq’s 40 million population are under the age of 25, and one of the most controversial issues today: ending the US military presence in the country that many Iraqi officials describe as an occupation.

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