BAGHDAD - In Baghdad’s impoverished Sadr City neighbourhood, there’s little interest in voting in the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
“I won’t vote. Why? Who should I vote for? Can you tell me what they’ve done to motivate us to vote?” asked tuk tuk driver Haider Hassan.
Iraqis will go to the polls on October 10, a year ahead of schedule. The early vote was a demand of protesters who took to the streets in 2019, angry at the political establishment, endemic corruption, and economic woes. They succeeded in bringing down the government of former Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, but were met with violence and a campaign of assassinations to silence activist voices.
Official campaigning began in July, but has so far been lackluster. Several political parties have withdrawn from the race and there are calls for a boycott of the vote, taking place in an environment where powerful militias operate outside of government control, activists and some election candidates have been threatened, and there are concerns about the possibility of fraud.
In Sadr City, people are disheartened after nearly two decades of empty promises from politicians.
“Let me tell you frankly, I will not vote. Four elections have been held [since 2003]. We’ve not seen any good come out of them. Each time they give us empty promises,” said Sadr City resident Dakhil Jabir.
Some parties have withdrawn from the election, though Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who leads the largest bloc in the current parliament, reversed his decision late last month.
Others parties are urging people to vote, saying the ballot box is the way to bring about change.
“People have every right to be hopeless because they see nothing has been done for them. They’re afraid that the very same faces will dominate the political sphere again. I can assure you all that change can be made with your participation. I agree that there could be a degree of vote-rigging, but this time voter fraud is going to be very difficult and it will not be like previous elections,” said Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, head of the Reform and Change Council.
Translation by Zhelwan Zeyad Wali
Video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
