Iraqi expatriates in Iran are preparing to cast their ballots in a crucial national election whose winner will face the daunting task of reconstructing the Arab country after years of foreign wars, civil strife and death and destruction spread by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group.
The May 12 parliamentary elections will be the fourth held since the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. More than 24 million of Iraq’s 37 million people are eligible to vote, according to Reuters.
There are nearly 7,000 candidates running for 329 seats in 18 provinces using Iraq’s proportional representation system. The election will decide the prime minister who will lead the country for the next four years.
Under the informal power-sharing arrangement in place since Saddam’s ouster, the prime minister has always come from the Shia majority with a Kurdish president and a Sunni speaker.
Voting in 19 Countries
Iraqi nationals living abroad will be able to vote in 19 countries, including Iran, which hosts a large community of Iraqis.
According to the head of Iraq’s election headquarters in Iran, Iraqis can go to polling stations in nine provinces, namely Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Qom, Khouzestan, Ilam, Isfahan, Yazd, Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan.
“Iraq’s parliamentary elections will be held on May 10 and 11 in Iran,” Haider al-Husseini told ISNA in an interview published on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry in Baghdad has announced that about 100,000 Iraqis in Iran are eligible to vote. The Iraqi Embassy in Tehran has put the number at around 130,000.
The Iran-Iraq border will be closed during the election period, Iranian news agencies reported, citing Iranian and Iraqi authorities.
Main District in South Tehran
In the predominantly Iraqi district of Dolatabad in south Tehran, the mood is reportedly buoyant ahead of the polls as Iraqi nationals—who fled insecurity in their homeland to seek refuge in Iran—gather in cafes and restaurants to catch up on the latest news, discuss politics and vouch for their favorite candidates.
The upcoming election is shaping up as a contest between three Shia frontrunners: incumbent Haider al-Abadi who has promoted a more inclusive government, his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki who political experts say failed to inspire unity and Hadi al-Amiri, a military commander seen as a war hero by many. Campaign posters of candidates have been put up in the streets in Dolatabad where people still fondly remember their homeland despite some of them not having ever been there.
“I have never hidden or forgotten my Iraqi identity. I have seen people sharing beautiful memories and stories [about Iraq]. But on the other hand, all the worrying and grim news coming out of Iraq on a daily basis cannot be ignored,” Fatima, a 20-year-old resident of the district, told the Iranian daily Hamshahri.
