On the 10th (local time), voters lined up waiting for their turn to vote at the Al Amal polling station in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, ahead of the early general election. (Baghdad AFP=Yonhap News)
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The voter turnout for the Iraqi general election was recorded at 41%. This figure is higher than the expected 20% range, which was predicted due to the refusal to vote by young people and the middle class disappointed with the political situation in Iraq.
According to major foreign media on the 11th (local time), the Iraqi Election Commission announced that the provisional voter turnout for the general election held the previous day was 41%. The Iraqi general election was held about seven months earlier than the originally scheduled May 2022 date, following demands from anti-government and anti-corruption protesters that began in October 2019.
In this general election, over 3,200 candidates competed for 329 seats. The total number of eligible voters in Iraq is about 25 million, and the total number of parties to which the candidates belong is 167.
Foreign media predicted a landslide victory for the hardline anti-American and anti-foreign influence Al-Sairoon faction led by Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr, a cleric and politician, is considered one of the most influential figures in Iraqi politics. The final election results are expected to be announced this afternoon.
Todd Dodge, Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, said in an interview with the UK Guardian, "(The new government) will have no answers to the chronic political and economic problems facing Iraq," emphasizing that "if the international community views this election as successful, it ignores the violence during the election campaign period and the election boycott by the younger generation."
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