10/12/2021 Iraq (International Christian Concern) –  Iraq held its fifth parliamentary elections on Monday since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. With record low voter turnout at 41 percent, Iraq’s large youth population largely boycotted the election after protesting in late 2019 the corrupt political system. The vote, which was moved up as a result of the deadly protests, appears to be legitimate according to Al-Jazeera with no accounts of voter fraud reported.

In total, 3249 candidates were competing for 329 parliamentary seats. Eighty-three of those seats are reserved for women, and nine more seats reserved for religious minorities. Five of the religious minorities seats are allocated to Christians, with the remaining four various other religions. Once the results of the parliamentary elections are finalized, those elected members will in turn elect the Iraqi President and Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has made efforts to cooperate and promote peace in the region. It is expected that the Shi’a majority factions to win a large percentage of the seats, though perhaps not enough within one party for a clear majority. Shi’a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fatah Alliance represented a tight race.

Iraq’s youth that boycotted the election cited corruption and mismanagement, made evident in the weak infrastructure, increasing poverty, and rising unemployment rates. Around 60 percent of the population is under 25, with a youth unemployment rate of 40 percent.

One Christian Baghdad resident told France24, “I am not going there. I am not voting for anyone. Why vote? We don’t trust any candidate, Christian or not.”

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