Huda Jassim (Baghdad)
The demands for the re-election in Iraq exceeded the “Sadr movement”, and became a demand of most political forces, with disagreement about the mechanisms for its implementation and the date for holding it before or after the formation of the government. The most prominent question on the Iraqi political scene is whether the early elections will solve the long-exacerbated crisis or not.
Ayat Muzaffar Nouri, a specialist in political science and international relations at Al-Turath University and a researcher in political affairs, considered in statements to Al-Ittihad that holding early elections is one of the paths to resolving the political impasse that has occurred in Iraq since 2003, noting that the re-formation of alliances after The results of last year’s elections are no longer possible, and therefore there is no other path left than to dissolve parliament and go towards new elections, which may not bring radical and different changes from the previous results.
Nouri stressed that the most prominent results of the early elections are “the deportation of the crisis”, which leads to dispelling the current tensions, considering that buying time may contribute to reducing differences and reducing media and field escalation, and early elections contribute to changing the convictions of some blocs after the repetition of “selective alliances.” And building national alliances to form a strong government that would be matched by a constructive “optional opposition,” in preparation for the establishment of the two wings of successful democracy, “the opposition and the loyalists.”
She pointed out that one of the results of the early elections is the increasing international interest through the United Nations organs, because it will be present from the beginning with a higher intensity in anticipation of a new crisis.
Nouri said, “All national parties know that any dispute at the level of the current dispute will harm everyone,” expecting that elections will not be held until after the formation of a government with full powers, to provide electoral security and the necessary funding to hold them.
In her statements to Al-Ittihad, she indicated that the amendments to be made in the electoral law must take place in accordance with comprehensive political understandings, without proceeding with a single vision, considering that the attempt to “break the wills” will lead to more tension and political and popular tension.
Regarding the aspects that the new election law should include, Nouri said, it must “achieve electoral justice, which guarantees and restores Iraqis’ confidence in the electoral process as part of the political process,” so that the majority of votes do not go to waste, as happened in the last elections, as the number of participants It exceeded 10 million out of 24 million eligible to vote, but the majority of the votes were not represented in the House of Representatives, so it is important that all political blocs take into account this observation in order to achieve electoral justice.
She added: “The electoral process will be complicated, and here it is difficult for the candidate or the political bloc to use illegal means to convince the voters, and the only way to convince the public will be the general specifications and standards of the candidate and his political bloc, as well as his electoral program and previous achievements.”
Nouri called for the necessity of adding a paragraph in the electoral law that specifies the ceiling of spending on the electoral campaign, and that the Commission monitor this spending.