The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq announced, on Sunday (April 6, 2025), that the electoral database reached about 20 million registered voters, noting that the next stage is to open the door for registration of political alliances, then the lists of candidates.
She said in a statement that “the commission is currently working to complete the update of the voter record,” noting that “the next stage will include opening the door for registration of political alliances, then receiving the lists of candidates.”
The announcement of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al -Sadr, opened not to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the door wide for a competition of another kind between the political blocs in Iraq; In light of the continuation of political differences on how to deal with the upcoming challenges in which the elections will take place, scenarios such as the possibility of postponement and the formation of an emergency government will be presented if the confrontation between the United States and Iran developed.
It seemed that the options began to narrow in front of some political forces that want to benefit from the margin of participation in the upcoming elections by expanding participation, through new births that can raise the balance of some forces that have lost dozens of seats in the previous elections, or adding new seats benefiting from the absence of the Sadris and the new births.
The Shiite forces seek to acquire the 73 seats that they abandoned after the withdrawal of their leader’s leader withdrew, at a time when expectations indicate that most of the alternative voices of the Sadris will go to the alliance of Prime Minister Muhammad Shi’a Al -Sudani or some of the emerging forces, which will deprive large Shiite powers such as the “State of Law” coalition led by Nuri al -Maliki from obtaining the voices that he wishes to provide in additional seats in The next parliament, or at least retains the seats in its possession now.
Although the survival of the current law as it is is one of the main demands of many political forces, including the coalition led by Prime Minister Muhammad Shi’a Al -Sudani, taking advantage of his popularity in the Iraqi street; The great competition of the Sudanese is the Maliki coalition; The fact that the Sudanese belonged to the “State of Law” when he was a deputy of several parliamentary courses and minister for several ministries before assuming the position of Prime Minister in late 2022.
It is noteworthy that while the main forces in the “coordination framework” were shared by Al -Maliki and his bloc, changing the current electoral law, two main blocs of the “coordination framework” expressed their support for the law to remain as it is.
In this context, Muhammad Al -Baladawi, a deputy of the “Sadiqun” bloc, which represents the “Asaib Ahl al -Haq” movement led by Qais Khazali in the Iraqi parliament, stressed that most of the political forces in the country support the current law of the elections and not to replace it or make a change to it.
Al -Baladawi said in a press statement that “amending the election law will take a long time and controversy because of the lack of agreement of political blocs and members of the House of Representatives to a unified formula for the law,” noting that this will open the doors to amend all articles and paragraphs of the law.
He added that “many political blocs want the election law to remain, and there are also blocs and individuals who want to amend the election law,” as he pointed out that “the controversy that is currently taking place is about the formula of law and survival or going to amend in terms of electoral districts and the proportions of the winners.”
It was noted that various scenarios by some Shiite political forces in particular aimed at expanding the scope of participation in the elections, while the Kurds or Sunnis were not enthusiastic about their part to change the current election law.
The head of the media team at the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq, Imad Jameel, stated that “the electoral centers are witnessing a good turnout, especially by young people born in 2007 who reached the election age for the first time, in addition to citizens who register their data for the first time, and voters are updating their information because of changing their places of residence.”
In addition, the “Al -Fateh” coalition led by Hadi al -Amiri joined those who refused to amend the election law. The coalition member Ali Al -Fatlawi said in a press statement that “amending the election law requires a political consensus between all parties, which is absent at the present time, The views differ between allied political forces. Al -Fatlawi pointed out that “an amendment to the election law is witnessing a great difficulty due to the absence of the agreement, and that it is possible that the upcoming elections will take place without any amendment to the current law.” He added that «the amendment process requires a long time and a comprehensive political consensus, which is unlikely in the current circumstances, especially in light of the rejection of some political forces any amendment at the present time.
