Mideast: Violence Plagues Iraq’s Parliamentary Election Run
engin akyurt
Iraq has been plagued by a series of violent incidents ahead of its parliamentary elections on November 11.
On October 15, Safa al-Mashhadani, a prominent member of Baghdad’s Provincial Council and a parliamentary candidate for the Sunni al-Siyada Alliance, was assassinated when an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to his car detonated.
Al-Mashhadani was a rising yet significant figure in Iraqi politics, widely regarded as one of Baghdad’s most influential leaders, who benefited from growing popularity amongst Iraqi youth and campaigned on an anti-corruption platform.
In another act of political intimidation, the office of the Azm Alliance’s candidate, Muthanna al-Azzawi, was attacked in Baghdad when gunmen opened fire on the office, wounding two security guards on October 18. Yet, despite the attack, Azawi vowed to continue his campaign.
Iraq: A Fragmented Population
Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic, with voters electing parliamentary representatives who then designate a prime minister responsible for forming a government.
Iraq’s political institutions aim to represent the ethnic and sectarian diversity within the country: while Arabs make up between 75 to 80 percent of the population, Kurds make up a further 15 to 20 percent, with minority groups such as Turkmen and Assyrians also part of the Iraqi population.
Although not enshrined in the constitution, it is commonly understood that Iraq’s president should be Kurdish, the speaker of parliament Sunni, and the prime minister Shia to represent Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian diversity.
Similarly, it is commonly agreed upon that all positions in the prime minister’s cabinet must be distributed equally among all ethnic and sectarian groups.
However, in practice, the ethnic and sectarian divide tends to make it incredibly hard to form a government, as many different parties represent different ethnicities and sects.
It took Iraq over a year to form a government after its last parliamentary elections in 2021.
As such, the current parliamentary elections are crucial to Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian minorities, who hope to make their voices heard at the government level.
A Flawed Constitution
Iraq’s political system is enshrined in the country’s 2005 constitution, which was mostly formulated by the United States during its occupation of the country.
During its eight-year presence in the country from 2003 to 2011, the U.S. claimed to bring democracy to Iraq but instead pushed for the rushed enactment 2005 Iraqi constitution, drafted with strong input from American experts.
The 2005 Iraqi Constitution created a system intended to balance divergent sectarian and ethnic interests, leading to the institutionalization of a de facto ethno-sectarian power-sharing system, which further entrenched ethnic and sectarian divisions.
Today, tension and violence between Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds -Iraq’s three main sectarian and ethnic groups- are still raging, highlighting how the US-led approach to nation building held the focus on communal representation rather than on overcoming ethnic and sectarian divide.
The 2005 constitution requires that Islam be a main source for legislation, stating that no law can contradict the "established provision of Islam,” which, both at the time and today, has faced backlash from Kurds and secular Shias.
Although the constitution also states that no law can contradict “the principles of democracy or the rights and basic freedoms stipulated in the constitution,” Kurds and Secular Shias view the place of Islam in Iraqi law as a threat to their identity.
In Iraq’s current political system, ethnic and sectarian affiliations often supersede national interest, as political parties such as the Iran-backed Shia Coordination Framework (SCF) use ethnic and sectarian divisions to maintain power, encouraging distrust amongst the population.
Increased Violence Ahead of Elections
Iraq’s deeply entrenched sectarian and ethnic divide is especially evident during election season, as shown by the recent spike in political violence across the country.
Intimidation, kidnappings, and threats have frequently been used as tools to shape electoral outcomes, as civil society activists warn that such campaigns of violence could skew election results, intimidating both the population’s vote and candidates’ campaigns.
On October 22, Iraq’s Ministry of Interior announced that arrests had been made in the investigation of the murder of Safa al-Mashhdani, but did not disclose the identity of the perpetrators or their motive.
In an official statement, the Ministry said that it had worked alongside the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) security apparatus, an Iraqi force heavily backed by Iran.
The ministry's close work with the PMF sparked an increasing sense of distrust among the Iraqi population, many of whom believe that Iran-backed militias were behind the murder of al-Mashhdani.
Indeed, the PMF has a long history of targeting Sunni political figures opposing the Shia majority, with multiple Sunni political figures, reform-oriented candidates, and civil society activists having already been targeted by such intimidation campaigns in the past.
Additionally, Iraqi government investigations have often failed to deliver justice and accountability, fueling growing distrust in Iraqi institutions.
Simultaneously, groups seemingly affiliated with Sunni jihad have also been suspected of carrying out similar intimidation campaigns ahead of November’s elections. Mahma Khalil, a current member of the Iraqi Parliament and a candidate for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has accused “a group of unknown people who carry the ideology of ISIS” of entering the courtyard of his Sinjar office and of burning some of his campaign material.
A climate of fear and distrust currently hangs over Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, raising questions regarding the current government's ability to guarantee Iraqis a free and fair election process, amidst a rise in political violence.