©(Photo by Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP)
Iraqis participated on Monday in the first provincial council elections held in a decade, anticipated to bolster the influence of Shiite Muslim groups aligned with Iran.
The vote comes at a time of widespread political apathy and disillusionment in the oil-rich country of 43 million that is still recovering from years of war and plagued by corruption.
Turnout at noon had reached just 17%, said election commission official Omar Ahmed, who urged voters to come out and "contribute to the success of the electoral process."
The vote is considered a key test for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani – who rose to power just over a year ago, backed by pro-Tehran parties – ahead of a general election due in 2025.
The provincial councils, set up after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, choose provincial governors and manage budgets for health, transport and education.
Critics see them as hotbeds of corruption and clientelism, and they were abolished in late 2019 after mass anti-government protests, before being re-established under Sudani.
Influential Shiite cleric and political kingmaker Moqtada Sadr, a one-time militia leader who has launched anti-government protests in the past, has boycotted the vote.
Sudani, after casting his ballot in Baghdad, hailed the councils as "a pillar of the executive" which help the government implement policies
Elections were held in 15 provinces, but not in the three which make up an autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
The vote was expected to boost the ruling Iran-aligned bloc called the Coordination Framework Coalition.
It brings together Shiite Islamist parties with factions of the Hashd al-Shaabi, a network of former paramilitary units that have been integrated into the regular security forces.
Observers kept a close eye on the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk, where historic rivalries could resurface between parties representing its Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen communities.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
The vote comes at a time of widespread political apathy and disillusionment in the oil-rich country of 43 million that is still recovering from years of war and plagued by corruption.
Turnout at noon had reached just 17%, said election commission official Omar Ahmed, who urged voters to come out and "contribute to the success of the electoral process."
The vote is considered a key test for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani – who rose to power just over a year ago, backed by pro-Tehran parties – ahead of a general election due in 2025.
The provincial councils, set up after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, choose provincial governors and manage budgets for health, transport and education.
Critics see them as hotbeds of corruption and clientelism, and they were abolished in late 2019 after mass anti-government protests, before being re-established under Sudani.
Influential Shiite cleric and political kingmaker Moqtada Sadr, a one-time militia leader who has launched anti-government protests in the past, has boycotted the vote.
Sudani, after casting his ballot in Baghdad, hailed the councils as "a pillar of the executive" which help the government implement policies
Elections were held in 15 provinces, but not in the three which make up an autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
The vote was expected to boost the ruling Iran-aligned bloc called the Coordination Framework Coalition.
It brings together Shiite Islamist parties with factions of the Hashd al-Shaabi, a network of former paramilitary units that have been integrated into the regular security forces.
Observers kept a close eye on the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk, where historic rivalries could resurface between parties representing its Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen communities.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
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