Iraq: Nasiriyah locals and activists express discontent at parliamentary elections

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SOT, Hisham Alsumary, Civil activist (Arabic): “We chose to boycott because we’ve seen a circumvention of the demands of Tishreen (the protests that erupted in the month of October). Tishreen (demonstrations) did not erupt to eventually call for the participation in the elections. Some decided to participate in the elections out of a personal conviction, and we chose to boycott based on a personal conviction. We took to the streets in order to overthrow the regime, so we do not give legitimacy to the regime. Those who cheered, applauded and rejoiced the elections, these same people after the elections will cry, slap their faces and scream because they participated in the elections.”

SOT, Salman Naim, Local resident (Arabic): “We rejoiced well upon the fall of the dictatorial regime after 2003, considering that Iraq will have a democratic (election) process. Unfortunately, it turned out that it was a sham (elections) process that is fake and far from transparency. It is a routine process and just a waste of money. The process is a (competition) of elites, five or six of them, and these elites are the ones who lead Iraq by regional and external orders, by major and regional countries. We have experienced the elections and found it corrupt. (Former PM) Iyad Al-Allawi won and they passed it on to the (Nuri) al-Maliki after him, then they gave it to (Haidar) Al-Abadi and to Adel Abdul-Mahdi after that, before they gave it eventually to (Mustafa) Al-Kazemi. The elections process is a sham process that’s empty of content.”

SOT, Hadi Abdullah, Protester (Arabic): “We have participated in demonstrations since 2019, where we went out with the aim of change and reform, not to elect these corrupt officials and the like, this is first. Secondly, we have faced all kinds of repression, assassinations and kidnappings, and arrests continue until now. We will not elect those corrupt people, and what we will do is that we will boycott, we do not want to elect these corrupt people, and we do not want them to succeed at all. What we will do is that whoever chooses to boycott will gather here on Sunday, and we will not elect anyone.”

SOT, Hussein Al-Admawi, Administrative body in the Iraqi National House (Arabic): “In objection to the electoral security situation, the electoral environment, and the political forces’ exploitation of positions, weapons, appointments and jobs, the National House decided not to participate in the elections. The National House is not an electoral organisation, but rather a political project that seeks to build a free state and a capable homeland. Therefore, we are working as much as possible to expand our organisation in 18 governorates, because we adopt the slogan of the Iraqi nation, and this means that all Iraqis are equal, with no difference between them on the basis of religion or sect. We adopt the political opposition project on several tracks, a legal track, humanitarian track, protest track, legal track, and an alternative political track.”

SOT, Anas Ahmed, Local resident (Arabic): “Political parties believe in boycotting the elections and forming an opposition from outside the parliament and outside the government through public pressure, and economic, political and protest programmes, while not legitimising the system from within, putting pressure on the international community and clarifying the crimes committed by the regime to the international community, and informing the international community of all crimes from corruption to murder, which It spanned from 2003 to the present day. It may not be a successful political alternative, and it may not be a political alternative in the short term, but we strive with every effort to put an end to this political process and bring down the political quota process from outside (the system).”

SOT, Hassan Hadi Al-Iraqi, Protester (Arabic): “The eruption of the great, peaceful and eternal Tishreen (October) revolution was for the purpose of overthrowing the abhorrent partisan quota system, and wasn’t to call for the participation in elections and curtailing the revolution. This benevolent revolution that offered martyrs and blood, the revolution that is still giving, while none of its demands has been yet fulfilled. Those demands are the confinement of uncontrolled arms to the state, the independence of the (Supreme Elections) Commission, in deed and not in words, the international monitoring (over elections), prohibiting the parties which have armed themselves from participating in the elections, and most of all, to hold the murderers of the revolutionaries accountable. None of these demands have been fulfilled, and accordingly we boycott and oppose these sham elections that will recycle the same grim faces and restore quotas and abhorrent partisan participation in this oppressed Iraq.”

Video on Demand: https://ruptly.tv/videos/20211008-007