41% turnout in Iraq’s parliamentary elections

On Iraq, in the elections to elect the next Parliament of the country, the participation has been around 41%, one of the lowest in recent years. The previous lowest turnout rate was 44.5% in 2018. A total of 25 million Iraqis were called to vote in parliamentary elections, but the opposition had called for a boycott of the appointment.

Finally, 9.1 million voters have gone to the polls, 1.7 million fewer than in the 2018 elections. For their part, the vote count continues and the final results of the legislative elections will be known in the next few hours. According polls At the exit of the ballot box conducted by local media, the formation of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, will repeat the victory of the 2018 elections, in which it won a total of 54 seats out of the 329 available in the Iraqi Parliament

The head of the mission European Union observers (EU) for the Iraq elections, Viola von Cramon, acknowledged this Sunday that despite the fact that participation was not being high, the day was being carried out in a “calm and peaceful” way. In addition, in statements to the Rudaw news agency, Von Cramon has called to lend the message of the elections, in reference to participation.

The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mostafá al Kazemi, had called on the population to be encouraged to vote in the parliamentary elections. However, the opposition did not trust today’s appointment.

The early elections of this Sunday were summoned in response to the demands of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who staged a wave of protests in October 2019 to demand more services and an end to endemic corruption in Iraq.

The EITB Media Middle East correspondent, Mikel Ayestarán, is following the elections live from Baghdad.

Chronicle of the voting day at the Khaled Ibn Wallid school in #Bagdad … More observers than voters

Via @eitbNews https://t.co/tGIiBnXmpi

– mikel ayestaran (@mikelayestaran) October 11, 2021