Boycotting Iraqi elections will not solve anything: UNAMI chief

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A boycott of Iraq’s upcoming elections is “not an effective strategy” and will not solve any problems, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday.  

“A boycott is not an effective strategy, nor will it solve anything. On the contrary,” said Jeannine Hennis-Plasschaert. 

“A vote not cast is in fact a gift to those you may be opposed to. Hence it is important for voters and politicians alike to return to the process.”

Iraq’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 10. Early elections were a key demand of protesters that began taking to streets across central and southern Iraq in October 2019, and were initially scheduled for June of this year before being postponed.

Several groups have announced they are boycotting the elections, including the Sadrist movement, led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who heads the largest bloc in parliament. 

The Sadrist movement was the first to announce its withdrawal from the election, with Sadr saying the move was to “preserve the nation, and to save the nation that has been burnt by the corrupt.”

“The credibility of these October elections will prove essential for Iraq’s future... The responsibility for the success of the upcoming elections rests with the Iraqi stakeholders and authorities,” Hennis-Plasschaert added in the UN briefing. 

In a recent interview with Rudaw, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who leads the State of Law coalition, called on those boycotting the election to rejoin the political process. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has made similar appeals, asking withdrawn parties to participate in the elections “for the sake of the Iraqi people.”

Some efforts have been announced to combat voter fraud, with biometric voter cards to be rendered invalid and taken away immediately after voting