Civil society organizations should play role in maintaining fair elections: Iraqi President

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi President Barham Salih in a conference on Saturday called on civil society organizations to play a role in the upcoming Iraqi elections to ensure a fair and honest poll.

Salih spoke on the upcoming elections during the Fourth Annual Non-Governmental Organizations’ Conference held on Saturday.

“We are going through a sensitive and dangerous phase of the political experience in Iraq and we have significant national duties that require goodwill and those who are keen on the security and sovereignty of the country to meet those duties,” Salih said in a speech during the conference.

“The most prominent of these duties is the holding of early elections as scheduled for October this year, a national right that cannot be put off,” the Iraqi president said.

Salih added the civil society organizations should play a large role in raising the public’s awareness of the elections and he called on all other sectors to help them achieve this.

“All governmental and political institutions must support the civil society environment and enable its institutions and organizations to activate their noble roles and aims. There is no strong state without a civil society,” Salih noted.

Ammar al Hakim, a Shiite cleric and the head of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement (Hikma) political bloc, also attended the conference and called on organizations to work on certain points while Iraq comes closer to the time of the elections. 

Hakim’s key points were “urging the Iraqi public to participate widely, actively and consciously in the elections,” he said. “Elections are a basic right for every citizen and it is a national duty achieved by participating in building the country and working towards stability.”

Hakim also called on the organizations to “immunize” the society from “electoral fraud, political money, uncontrolled weapons, electronic armies, false promises, suspicious agendas, and marketing racism and sectarianism to gain a voice,” asking them to monitor the upcoming elections.

Iraqi Parliamentary speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi also had a request for the organizations.

“The role of civil society organizations in raising awareness for the upcoming early elections can be used to educate citizens about participating in the elections, to clarify the negative impact of boycotting them, and to urge how to choose the most appropriate person to represent the people in Parliament,” he said, according to a tweet published by his office.  

In November, President Barham Salih signed election reforms into law. According to the new law, each province is divided into multiple constituencies.

Iraq will hold early elections on October 10, meeting a demand of anti-government protesters. After a spate of assassinations and targeting of activists, however, many are questioning the authorities’ ability to ensure a free and fair vote, untainted by corruption and violence.  

In an interview broadcast earlier this month on al-Arabiya, British Ambassador Stephen Hickey said that Iraq will not be able to hold “fair and transparent elections” without protection for activists, who continue to be killed and threatened by Iran-backed militias. 

Recent protests on Tuesday in Baghdad saw Iraqis asking for a delay to elections, calling them illegitimate.