Iraqi parliament to discuss election cancellation, commission distrust
Iraqi parliament.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi parliament will discuss in today’s session suggestions to cancel the results of the recent parliament elections and withdrawing confidence from the commission that ran them.
Baghdad Today quoted Jassem al-Bayyati, a parliamentarian described as “close” to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, saying Saturday that the chamber, based on an invitation by its chief for an extraordinary session on electoral breaches, will discuss revoking the election results and totally, or partially, withdrawing confidence from the High Electoral Commission.
He added that other suggestions on the table are limiting cancellations to the refugee and expatriate votes.
The parliament failed to convene for the same purpose last Thursday for lack of quorum.
Accusations of forgery flew after the end of votes on May 12th. Abadi’s office said the prime minister had referred to the Integrity Authority a violation by the High Electoral Commission related to its failure to hire a specialized firm to check and verify the soundness of electronic vote counters.
According to official result, Abadi’s al-Nasr list came third. First came Saeroon list, sponsored by Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, a populist seeking to break away from Iranian influence and scathingly opposed to foreign military presence in Iraq. Second came al-Fatah, an alliance of former leaders of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, the Shia-led troops that backed government forces campaign, under Abadi, to drive out Islamic State militants since 2014.