Iraq’s Sadr Warns Against Postponing Early Elections

Date: 13 January 2021 - 21:58

News ID: ۸۶۵۸۶

BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned on Wednesday of postponing the early parliamentary elections slated for June 6, after local media reports said that some political blocs are seeking to delay the early elections.
"There are some voices raised to cancel or postpone early elections, but we warn against postponing them, and we hope that everyone shows wisdom and works together for the success of these elections,” Haider al-Jaberi, head of al-Sadr’s media office, said in a statement.
Al-Sadr called on citizens to expedite the updates of voter registration records in registration centers across the country, the statement added.
Al-Sadr’s statement came in response to local media reports, which said earlier that some Iraqi political parties are seeking to delay early elections from June 6 to November.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) confirmed its commitment to holding the early elections as stated on June 6.
"The commission is working continuously for the elections, and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi directed the state institutions as well as international and local organizations to work together to help the electoral commission,” the official Iraqi News Agency quoted Jumana al-Ghalai, an IHEC member, as saying.
She pointed out that the electoral commission had set a timetable until June 6, 2021, for holding the elections.
Last July, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi set June 6, 2021, as the date for the early elections, which came in response to the anti-government protests and was designed to make it easier for independent politicians to win a seat in the parliament.
The previous parliamentary elections in Iraq were held on May 12, 2018, and the next elections were originally scheduled to take place in 2022.