Iraqi commission sets deadline for provincial elections registration

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s electoral commission on Monday set the month of July as the time frame for political parties to register in the upcoming provincial council elections set to take place on December 18. 

The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is currently preparing for countrywide provincial elections to be held on December 18, with the councils previously dissolved amid anti-government protests around four years ago. 

“The door for registration for alliances and political parties wishing to participate in the 2023 provincial elections has been specified,” the commission said. 

“This will be from Saturday 7/1/2023 until Sunday 7/30/2023.” 

Created by the 2005 constitution after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the provincial councils are powerful bodies that hold significant power in the country, including setting the budgets for several sectors such as education, health, and transport. 

The elections will significantly impact Iraq’s political climate, with media rumors indicating that the Sadrist Movement of Iraq’s powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are considering to run for the vote. 

Sadr was the primary actor in Iraqi politics and his movement won 73 seats in the 2021 Iraqi parliamentary elections, far outscoring parties of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework. However, he announced his “definitive retirement” from politics last August after withdrawing his candidates from the legislature, resulting in violent altercations between his supporters and those of Iran-backed parties in Baghdad. The cleric commands a huge popular following in Iraq. 

The provincial elections will mark the return of the controversial Sainte-Laguë voting method, reverting back to the single-constituency per province system instead of the multiple-constituency system that was adopted for the 2021 parliamentary elections. 

Parliament dissolved the Sainte-Laguë system in response to massive protests against corruption and unemployment that engulfed the country in October 2019. Protestors accused the councils of being rife with corruption. 

As part of the single-constituency system, better-funded, established parties are more favored over independent candidates.

If an MP or a provincial council withdraws from their positions under the Sainte-Laguë method, their seat will be given to another member of their political party. Under the 2021 system, the seat would be given to the candidate with the second highest number of votes in their constituency, regardless of their party.

The elections will take place across federal Iraq and exclude the provinces of the Kurdistan Region.