Elections for provincial councils commenced this Monday in Iraq under heightened security measures, marking the first polls of this kind in the country since a decade ago. This follows a 'special' voting session that took place last Saturday for around 50,000 displaced persons and nearly one million security forces members.
Provincial councils were established after the American invasion and the toppling of President Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. However, provincial councils were dissolved in 2019 under public pressure following unprecedented demonstrations across the nation.
Provincial councils wield broad powers, including the election of the governor and allocation of budgets for health, transport, and education sectors through their designated funding in the general budget, which relies on oil revenues for 90% of its income. Opponents of the provincial councils, however, view them as "nests of corruption that foster patronage."
Polling stations opened at 7 am (4 am GMT) and will close at 6 pm (3 pm GMT). Approximately 17 million voters have been invited to choose from among 6,000 candidates vying for 285 seats across all provinces.
Among the contenders are 1,600 women, representing the 25% quota set for them, while 10 seats have been specifically reserved for minorities including Christians, Yazidis, and Sabean Mandaeans in this ethnically and religiously diverse country.
The seat count for the provincial councils varies from one province to another, with Baghdad's council comprising 49 seats while Basra's council has 22 seats.
The ruling Shiite coalition hopes that the elections will extend its grip on power. This comes amid a boycott by the Sadrist movement led by the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who announced a boycott of the elections held in 15 provinces. These elections exclude three provinces within the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north of the country.
These local elections are pivotal for the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who has promised service reforms and infrastructure development destroyed over decades of conflict since taking power about a year ago with the support of a parliamentary majority of parties and currents allied with Iran.
In a speech before the elections last Friday evening, al-Sudani urged Iraqis to vote, "especially those who recognize and feel the government's direction towards reconstruction and development projects," in order to "elect strong provincial councils that support executive action."
A sense of frustration lingers among the public regarding the elections in a country of 43 million inhabitants, rich in oil but whose institutions suffer from "chronic corruption," according to observers.
Expectations suggest a decline for the "Progress" alliance in Sunni provinces following a decision by the Supreme Federal Court last November to dismiss its leader, Mohammed al-Halbousi, from his position as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In the oil-rich Kirkuk province in northern Iraq, the competition is expected to be particularly fierce as tensions may re-emerge among the various ethnic constituencies, including Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen.
Renad Mansour, a researcher at the Chatham House think tank, believes that "the participation rate is the ultimate measure of satisfaction and whether Sudani's populist economic policies and job opportunity policies are successful and able to attract the new generation or not."
Experts, as quoted by Reuters, anticipate that these elections will bolster the position of parties and currents allied with Iran, which hold a parliamentary majority and represent traditional Shiite parties and some Popular Mobilization Units factions.
Mansour sees the local elections as an "opportunity" for these parties "to prove that they have a social and popular base," highlighting the "significant competition within the Shiite house" where different components vie to secure governorship positions.
