Iraq thwarts second attempt to rig upcoming parliamentary elections

The Iraqi security forces have thwarted an attempt to rig the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October, the office of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said yesterday.

“The [Iraqi] security services carried out a pre-emptive operation in which they thwarted an attempt to rig the elections by putting pressure on a number of election commission employees, with the aim of mixing political cards and creating chaos,” the statement said.

According to the statement, the suspects built ties with employees of the Electoral Commission with the aim of provoking political chaos in Iraq, through a social media network, including a site called “The Green Lady”. The site has recently published news and scandals about some political blocs and figures.

This is the second time authorities announced that they had thwarted an attempt to rig the elections in nearly a week.

Last Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Council announced the formation of a working group of investigative judges and judicial investigators, in cooperation with the security authorities, to monitor attempts to rig elections, tamper with and purchase votes.

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