By Heyrsh Abdul

Iraq has suffered its fair share of instability stemming from poor political leadership. Furthermore, this instability and poor leadership have made the country to agonize from endemic corruption, threats to national security, failure to provide basic services to citizens, and continued lack of economic development since the 2003 Iraqi War.

The war-torn country held parliamentary elections on May 12 this year. Many saw the election as an opportunity to rebuild Iraq and change the focus to institutional and economic development as well as the fight against corruption. The May elections were the first since the defeat of Islamic State (ISIS). The war against the terror group has left a third of Iraq in ruins.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to rebuild the country was wasted at a critical juncture when, starting from the first day of tallying votes, evidence of massive fraud surfaced. The election fraud continues to cause great chasm among the people, political parties, and state institutions.

The reservations created by claims to a fraudulent elections process, in itself, is a threat to national security. Iraq risks being disunited, which could instigate the country into violence, instability and possibly another civil war. That is why, before looking into the repercussions of instability in Iraq, it’s vital to justify, to some extent, the allegations of a botched election.

Iraqi Elections’ Red Flags

One week before the elections, the United Nations’ (U.N.) observation team in Iraq indicated failures in the electoral voting system, but the electoral commission did not take any action. When the electoral commission informed the government that it was unable to inspect the voting system a week prior to the election date, it seemed suspicious.

After the elections were carried out, contentious issues that diminish the legitimacy of the entire election process came to light. It turned out that 2 million ballot papers were missing. The raised claims implied that the Iraqi police and army personnel got double ballot papers each. One ballot paper was meant to be cast at their camp, while the other was cast at their home station.

If the May 12 elections were held legitimately, then why would the commission wait with the election results announcement until the end of the month? Could it have been a plot to allow the autocratic and unpopular government stay in power for another term?

The telltale signs of a fraudulent election raise a lot of suspicions which reduces voter confidence in the electoral process. It immediately led to protests in regions like the Kirkuk Province in northern Iraq, where demonstrators demanded a manual recount of the votes.

Averting violence and possible civil war should be Iraq’s main concern, and the best way to do so is by holding fresh, legitimate elections. What are the authorities and stakeholders doing to remedy the stalemate in the country?

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