“This election will not bring any changes. There is no hope of change because we see the same faces that appeared in the previous elections,” Akram Qabeel, a public servant, told Rudaw.
Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on October 10. The vote was one of the demands of the nationwide Tishreen (October) protests of 2019.
Basra, an oil-rich province where poverty rates are high, also saw earlier protests over corruption, unemployment, and lack of basic services, including water. In 2018, during an acute water shortage nearly 120,000 people were hospitalized after drinking contaminated water.
“We will not see any changes as long as the corrupt top positions in the government remain in the hands of the same people,” said Ahmed Jassim, a college student.
Some demonstrators are hoping to bring their protest movement into the parliament. Protesters are among dozens of independent candidates battling nearly 200 candidates from established parties and powerful lists like the Sadrist bloc to fill Basra’s 25 seats in the legislature.
Adnan al-Wahili is running as part of a collective of independents called the Construction and Reform Gathering. This election, he told Rudaw, “is a decisive and historic phase, compared to all other previous elections because it came due to pressure from protesters. In our agenda, we emphasize holding the corrupt accountable, especially for killing the protesters.”
The Tishreen protests lasted several months and were met with violence and repression from state forces and militias backed by Iran that left at least 600 dead and thousands wounded.
Though the elections were a protest demand, many have called for a boycott, questioning how a vote can be held while the killers of protesters walk free and militias operate outside of government control. In a protest in Baghdad on Friday, demonstrators carried posters that read “Voting for the same people will turn the country into a slaughterhouse” and “Do not vote for those who killed me.”
There are over 3,200 candidates competing for 329 seats in the parliament. Nine seats are reserved for minorities and there are 67 candidates vying for these spots. At least 25 million Iraqis are eligible to vote.
Additional reporting by Hiwa Hussamaddin
