Iraq
Qais al-Muhammadawi, head of IHEC's security committee, speaking during a press conference on December 19, 2023. Photo: Rudaw/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi electoral commission’s security committee on Tuesday announced that more than 300 people were arrested over violating the electoral process the day before, adding that the arrestees likely included candidates for the provincial elections.
A total of 6,599,668 ballots were cast across Iraq during Saturday’s early vote and Monday’s general elections, accounting for a 41 percent turnout. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is set to announce the preliminary results of the provincial elections at 5:00 pm Tuesday.
“The plan was completed successfully and no security breaches were recorded… More than 300 people were arrested, some of them might be candidates and it could be due to their violation of the elections,” Qais al-Muhammadawi, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) security committee, told reporters.
Muhammadawi praised the security forces’ success in ensuring the implementation of the law during the elections, especially in Kirkuk, which he labeled as “another achievement” for the federal government and security services.
Kirkuk province recorded the highest turnout across all the provinces with 65 percent of eligible voters casting ballots, numbering over 566,000 votes. Muhammadawi said on Monday that the movement of voters from the Kurdistan Region’s provinces to the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, and Nineveh had been very smooth.
Iraq held its long-anticipated provincial elections in 15 provinces on Monday. The last provincial council elections took place in 2013, without Kirkuk. The councils were dissolved in 2019 in response to demands by Tishreen protesters who criticized the system for its failures and for enabling corruption.
A total of 6,599,668 ballots were cast across Iraq during Saturday’s early vote and Monday’s general elections, accounting for a 41 percent turnout. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is set to announce the preliminary results of the provincial elections at 5:00 pm Tuesday.
“The plan was completed successfully and no security breaches were recorded… More than 300 people were arrested, some of them might be candidates and it could be due to their violation of the elections,” Qais al-Muhammadawi, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) security committee, told reporters.
Muhammadawi praised the security forces’ success in ensuring the implementation of the law during the elections, especially in Kirkuk, which he labeled as “another achievement” for the federal government and security services.
Kirkuk province recorded the highest turnout across all the provinces with 65 percent of eligible voters casting ballots, numbering over 566,000 votes. Muhammadawi said on Monday that the movement of voters from the Kurdistan Region’s provinces to the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, and Nineveh had been very smooth.
Iraq held its long-anticipated provincial elections in 15 provinces on Monday. The last provincial council elections took place in 2013, without Kirkuk. The councils were dissolved in 2019 in response to demands by Tishreen protesters who criticized the system for its failures and for enabling corruption.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment