Iraq’s PMF Outside Special Voting Process

Arab World

October 3rd, 9:38am

Baghdad - Fadhel al-Nashmi

Religious flags are pictured near an election campaign poster ahead of the parliamentary election, in Baghdad, Iraq September 27, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Iraqis will head to the polls on Oct. 10 to elect a new parliament, while the Popular Mobilization Forces was excluded from the “special vote” that includes specific lists, primarily the military and security sectors. In a statement on Saturday, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said that members of the Popular Mobilization Authority would be outside the special voting process. IHEC spokeswoman Jumana al-Ghalay told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “IHEC is very keen on the participation of the Iraqi citizens, whether they are voters or candidates; therefore, we addressed the Popular Mobilization Forces to provide IHEC with the name of their personnel, to register them in the special voting lists and issue biometrics cards for special voting.” She added, however, that the PMF did not provide with the Commission with the names of their personnel, “thus we listed them in the public voting.” Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliamentary Observatory issued on Saturday its comprehensive and final report on legislative and oversight work and constitutional and legal violations carried out by the Iraqi parliament during its fourth session, which began in early 2018. The head of the Observatory, Muzhar Al-Saadi, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the current session witnessed serious legal and constitutional violations, including “refusal to publish the absences of deputies and failure to hold sessions at their scheduled time.” The report revealed a weak legislative performance of the current parliament, which held 173 sessions, during which it approved only 92 laws, compared to the second parliamentary session, which saw the enactment of 216 laws.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3223671/iraq%E2%80%99s-pmf-outside-special-voting-process