Allawi’s party says Iraq elections ‘illegitimate’

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) – Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s party on Saturday dismissed the results of the country’s parliamentary elections as “void” and “illegitimate” due to low voter turnout.

Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, Allawi, the head of the Iraqi Civil Front, said the few who voted "have no right to determine the fate of the majority that boycotted the vote.”

Allawi said his party boycotted the polls due to "the lack of a safe and fair environment in light of the continued existence of uncontrolled weapons and political money, and the lack of participation of the displaced and migrants in voting."

His party won 21 seats out of 329-member parliament in the 2018 elections.

The Oct. 10 elections saw 3,249 candidates representing 21 coalitions and 109 parties vying for seats in the assembly.

The vote was originally scheduled for 2022, but political parties decided to hold early elections following mass protests that erupted in 2019 against corruption and poor governance.

Nadim al-Jabri, a senior party official, said less than 20% of Iraqi voters participated in the polls, “which makes the elections invalid and illegal."

He called on Iraqi President Barham Salih and the Federal Court not to ratify the vote results, given that the voter turnout did not reach 50%.

The Iraqi constitution does not set a specific voter threshold for the election results to be valid.

The turnout in the polls was only 41%, according to the Elections Commission, the lowest since the organization of multi-party elections in 2005.

Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's party won 73 seats in parliament, the highest, followed by Taqaddum bloc of Parliament Speaker Mohamed Halbousi with 38 and the State of Law Coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with 37 seats.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar