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Iraq's first female presidential candidate threatened, urged to withdraw

October 2, 2018 at 1:03 pm

Former Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, Sarwa Abdul-Wahid

Iraq’s only female presidential candidate Sarwa Abdul Wahid has received threats and is being urged to withdraw from the race, she said on Twitter on Sunday.

The former member of parliament said that she was being subjected to intense pressures and threats but she would not give up or disappoint those who supported her in her “project for change”.

“My candidacy was not a result of a decision from political parties, so my withdrawal will not be their decision,” she wrote, adding that she had received threats for four years but never gave in to them.

Last month, the former member of the Change bloc announced her candidacy for the presidency as an independent Kurdish Iraqi politician, making her  the first female to run for the position.