ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi instructed security forces to investigate reports of vote-buying ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections. “We have received many complaints from some regions, about some entities and parties threatening citizens to bring all their families' cards, and to vote for them, and the security services should deal with these complaints firmly and forcefully,” Kadhimi said in a Council of Ministers meeting on Saturday. “There are some groups trying to blackmail the voters, influence their voting decision by force, and try to bypass the state and the law.” Iraqis will go to the polls on October 10, a year ahead of schedule. The election was called to meet a demand of protesters who brought down the government of former Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. However, interest in the vote is low. Several parties from across the spectrum have announced they will not participate. All sides are questioning the legitimacy of the vote in an environment where powerful militias operate outside of government control, activists and election candidates are threatened, and the electoral commission and political elites are accused of fraud. Kadhimi said his government is working to address the concerns. “Strict security measures have been put in place to prevent any case of infiltration or fraud attempts,” Kadhimi said during the meeting. “We have also coordinated an international presence to give a higher legitimacy to the elections.” “We have stressed to the nominated officials, including ministers, governors and others, to completely prevent the use of state resources, and the [election] commission is required to inform us of any exploitation of these resources,” he added. Campaigning for the election has been muted and turnout is expected to be low, amid concerns of fraud. The United Nations is deploying one of its largest ever election assistance teams and 130 international experts will monitor the vote.
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