Security forces under duress to vote a certain way, MP says

Shafaq News – Baghdad

Signs of pressure on security forces to vote for a specific list have been reported ahead of Iraq’s special polling on November 9, a member of the State of Law Coalition (SLC) said on Saturday.

The State of Law Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, secured 34 seats in the 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections and is a key component of the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework political bloc.

Coalition member Alaa al-Hadadi told Shafaq News that the SLC will document these observations and submit them to the relevant authorities as part of its campaign monitoring reports.

"Talk of pressure from influential parties or lists to compel security forces to vote for particular candidates had circulated even before the election process began," Al-Hadadi stated, adding that "security personnel are now more aware that no authority can dictate their choices, and no side can know how they vote."

Regarding boycott concerns, he noted that “security forces traditionally show strong turnout in elections, with limited abstention rates, which reassures us in this regard.”

With Iraq’s parliamentary elections days away, more than 1.3 million members of the security, defense, and service sectors, along with registered internally displaced persons (IDPs), will cast their ballots in the special vote on Sunday, November 9. The early round is overseen by Iraq’s High Electoral Commission (IHEC) across 4,501 polling stations under heightened security.

Read more: Inside Iraq’s Special Vote: Forces, camps, and credibility ahead of the ballot