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Historic vote: Iraqis go to polls in first provincial elections in a decade

Monday, 18 December 2023 10:59 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 December 2023 10:59 AM ]

An Iraqi woman votes in the first provincial council elections in a decade, at a polling station in Sadr City in the capital Baghdad, on December 18, 2023.

Iraqis go to the polls on Monday to vote in provincial elections for the first time in ten years to choose members of the Provincial Councils.

Polls opened at 7:00 am amid tight security and were due to close at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT). The first stage of the elections was held with the participation of the Iraqi armed forces on Saturday.

The provincial election sets the stage for parliamentary elections scheduled for 2025, which will determine the balance of power in Iraq.

Some 6,000 candidates are vying for 285 provincial council seats. The elections are being held in 15 of Iraq’s 18 provinces.

Iraq has a population of 43 million people. Almost 40 percent of the people, 17 million, are eligible to take part in the vote.

The three Kurdish-majority provinces, which are located in the autonomous region in the north, are exempted from these elections by federal law.

Local elections last took place in 2013. They were postponed ever since due to the war against the Daesh Takfiri terrorists who took over vast swathes in lightning attacks across the region.

Top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, assassinated by the US military in Iraq in 2020, had a key role in the fight against Daesh, which was vanquished after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign.

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According to the Iraqi Constitution, the Provincial Councils are granted sufficient legal rights to devise regional laws and act as a small government in its respect, overseeing provincial matters and funding for the province’s public health, transportation, and education.

Casting his ballot in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani urged voters to choose “honest” and “competent” people to represent them.

Sudani said that the elections were important as the councils “represent a pillar of the executive and help the government in the implementing of their policies.”

Since taking office in 2022, Sudani has focused on developing public services and infrastructure ravaged by decades of conflict in the oil-rich country.

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