Iraq’s electoral commission: ‘Election date is certain’ 

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission announced on Friday that the date for holding early general elections next October is “certain and will not be reversed.”

Over the past days, Iraqi politicians from different parliamentary blocs have expressed their concerns about the electoral commission’s inability to hold early elections on the scheduled date. The concerns regard the state decision to control arms circulation in the country and the presence of armed militias that could influence the election result.

The electoral commission announced in a statement: “The tenth of next October is the date to hold the elections, and it is certain and irreversible. We call on citizens to update their data before 15 April.”

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In March 2021, the electoral commission announced the registration of 30 coalitions in early elections, including 250 parties.

Around 25.1 million Iraqis are eligible to vote in the early parliamentary elections.

Holding early elections has been a major demand of the popular movement, which led to widespread protests in the country since October 2019, and succeeded in removing former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi at the end of the same year.