109 political parties, 21 alliances will run the elections, Iraq’s High Electoral Commission says

Iraq’s High Electoral Commission announced, on Saturday, the numbers of alliances and candidates for the upcoming elections.

The Commission said in a statement; 3,249 candidates will run in the elections, including 951 women.

The Statement added that “789 candidates will run as individuals, and 1501 are candidates within 109 political parties, while 959 will run within 21 alliances.”

The next elections are scheduled to be held on the tenth of next October, according to what the Iraqi Council of Representatives voted to set in a session held on January 19, 2021, amid government pledges to hold fair elections away from the power of arms.

It is noteworthy that Iraq’s cabinet decided to postpone the general election to Oct. 10 from June.

Early elections were a key demand of anti-government protesters who staged mass demonstrations that started in October 2019.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said the decision to set a new date to hold an early contest was made to give IHEC enough time to be fully prepared to hold fair and transparent elections.