Iraqis vote as Abadi seeks to fend off Iran-backed rivals

BAGHDAD/MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqis voted on Saturday for the first time since the defeat of Daesh, with Prime Minister Haider Abadi, an ally of both the United States and Iran, trying to fend off powerful Shiite political groups that would pull the country closer to Tehran.

Iraqis expressed pride at the prospect of voting for the fourth time since the fall of Saddam Hussein, but also said they had scant hope that the election would stabilise a country beset by conflicts, economic hardship and corruption. 

An election observer and two voters were killed by a bomb attached to their car in a Sunni Arab region south of the oil city of Kirkuk in an attack security sources linked to the election. 

Daesh earlier claimed responsibility for the attack. The militants had threatened violence in the run-up to the vote.

Reuters reporters at polling stations in several cities said voter turnout appeared to be about 30 per cent, citing sources in provincial offices of the Independent High Electoral Commission. Turnout in the 2014 vote was about 60 per cent.

The vote’s victors will have to contend with fallout from US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran, a move Iraqis fear could turn their country into a theatre of conflict between Washington and Tehran.

Abadi, who came to power four years ago after Daesh swept through a third of the country, carefully managed Iraq’s alliance with both countries. The United States provided military support to Iraq’s army to defeat the militant group, while Iran backed Shiite militias that fought on the same side.

But now that the campaign is over, Abadi faces political threats from two main challengers: his predecessor Nuri Al Maliki, and the leader of the main Shiite paramilitary group, Hadi Al Amiri, both of whom are closer than he is to Iran.

The three main ethnic and religious groups — the majority Shiite Arabs, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds — have been at odds for decades, and sectarian divisions remain deep.

Iran has wide sway in Iraq as the primary Shiite power in the region. The United States, which invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam, occupied it until 2011 and sent troops back to help fight Daesh extremists in 2014, also has deep influence. 

Iran’s influence has caused resentment among Sunnis as well as some Shiites, who have grown tired of religious leaders, parties and militias and want technocrats to rule the country.

Abadi is considered the frontrunner by analysts, but victory is far from certain. A British-educated engineer without a powerful political machine of his own when he took office, he solidified his standing with the victory over Daesh. In office he reached out to minority Sunnis, although he alienated Kurds after crushing their bid for independence.

But he has failed to improve the limping economy, and cannot rely solely on votes from his fellow Shiites. Even if Abadi’s Victory Alliance list wins the most seats, he still must negotiate a coalition government, which must be formed within 90 days of the election.

Amiri, 63, spent more than two decades fighting Saddam from exile in Iran and leads the Badr Organisation, the backbone of the volunteer forces that fought Daesh. Victory for Amiri would be a clear win for Iran, which is locked in proxy wars for influence across the Middle East with Saudi Arabia.

Disillusion 

Many Iraqis are disillusioned with war heroes and politicians who have failed to restore state institutions and provide badly needed health and education services. 

“We need neither tanks nor jets. We need only the ballot paper through which we can rectify the political process which was aborted by those who governed Iraq,” said labourer Khalid Al Shami, 50, at a polling station in Baghdad.

Maliki is seeking a comeback, casting himself as a Shiite champion after being sidelined in the wake of the Daesh advance. Opponents say his sectarian policies during eight years in power created the atmosphere that enabled Daesh to gain sympathy among Sunnis as it swept across Iraq in 2014.

Since Saddam’s fall, the post of prime minister has been reserved for a Shiite, the speaker of parliament has been a Sunni, and the ceremonial presidency has gone to a Kurd — all three chosen by parliament. 

More than 7,000 candidates in 18 provinces are running this year for 329 parliamentary seats. More than 24 million of Iraq’s 37 million people are eligible to vote.

In Kirkuk, an oil city disputed by Kurds and the Baghdad government, 90-year-old Najm Al Azzawi has witnessed Iraq’s decades of upheaval: Saddam’s military adventures, international sanctions, the US occupation, sectarian bloodshed and the Daesh group’s reign of terror. But he has not lost hope.

“God save Iraqis from the darkness they have been in,” he said. “It is the most joyful thing to vote.”

In the ruins of west Mosul, where Daesh proclaimed its caliphate in 2014 and fighters held out for most of last year in the face of the biggest battle of the post-Saddam era, turnout appeared strong even though transport was shut for security reasons and voters had difficulty reaching the polls.

“We need new faces not this group of corrupt politicians currently in Baghdad,” said Ahmed Noor, a shop owner.

In the Wadi Al Hajr neighbourhood, several older voters arrived to be told their polling station was several districts over.

“I can’t walk, I can barely move, how am I supposed to walk an hour to the polling station? Both my sons fled Mosul under Daesh and now live overseas,” said Saadia Ahmed Hussein.

She wept at the entrance to the polling station, clutching her cane. “There’s no one to take me by car.”