Raed Ahmed (EURASIA REVIEW) wonders now if the 2021 elections were fair? Now? If that doesn't raise your eyebrows, maybe this will. He starts off writing:
The 2021 elections in Iraq took place six months early, brought forward because of the street protests which preceded them. The notably low turnout in the elections indicates that the confidence of Iraqis in their political system remains low. The maneuvering that followed the polls is unlikely to have improved this confidence. The emergence of a government narrowly based on certain factions is similarly unlikely to inspire faith in the system. The legitimacy gap in Iraq remains a matter of concern.
In October 2021, Iraq experienced the lowest rate of voter turnout since 2005. Only 40 percent of voters cast their votes for the Council of Representatives (CoR). Protests in October 2019, which lasted for months, heavily influenced the political landscape as protestors called for economic and political reforms, ending the ethno-sectarian political system, and adopting anti-corruption policies. The government of Adil Abdulmahdi (formed after the 2018 elections) stepped down due to the public demands and because of evidence of the abuse of thousands of Iraqi activists taking part in the protests. As a result, the CoR called for early elections and passed a new law of elections in 2020.[1]
How's he going to get to the truth from there? You build your base on lies and then hope truth emerges? I don't get it. It's why we've never, ever liked nor trusted EURASIA REVIEW. They just make s**t up. And dumb Americans who don't follow Iraq think ER is a font of wisdom and truth.
No.
The 2021 elections couldn't be early because they were promised to take place even earlier.
In October 2019, youth activists did lead protests and they succeeded in toppling the government of then Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. But Mustafa al-Kadhimi did not become prime minister until May 6, 2020. In the lead up to his becoming prime minister, he promised he'd set up elections as his first duty and that he wouldn't seek a second term.
He did set up elections, just not as his first action. They were supposed to take place in the fall of 2020 based on words from his own mouth. But once he got in office, he began backing off all of his promises.
And your a damn liar if you try to pretend otherwise.
Not only did he not bring about early elections, he also broke his promise not to run for re-election.
That's pretty big but if you're talking about the 2021 elections, there's more.
There's, in fact, the biggest thing of all. I don't believe Iraq's militias should have been folded into the official Iraqi forces. Never have. It was proposed for years before it happened and I said it would be a mistake. But it happened.
So you can't do what they did in the 2021 elections: Refuse to allow the paramilitary forces to participate in early elections.
All forces should have participated. The reason that they countries forces participate early is that they are deployed around Iraq to protect voting locations. They aren't sent to their own precincts. That means they can't vote day of election, so they have to vote early. The decision by the Mahdi to refuse to allow the militias to vote early was announced days before the early voting. It had the effect of disenfranchising a large number of voters.
There were also large numbers of voters that chose not to vote. In fact, participation continues to drop since 2010. But Raed and EURASISA REVIEW don't want to tell you about that or how the US government destroyed voting in Iraq in 2010.
At the end of the day, it's two years after the 2021 election and if you can't get the basic right why are you even writing about it?
The following sites updated:
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