To encourage participation in the Iraqi elections.. Allocating rewards for those who receive biometric cards

With the approach of the early parliamentary elections in Iraq, the government's efforts continued to persuade more voters and urge them to participate actively.

Among those endeavors were;

On September 26, the authorities announced a special reward for each voter who hurriedly received his printed electoral card, which is in the voter registration centers, in order to be able to participate in the elections.

At the time, the Electoral Commission indicated that the number of electoral cards not received is 2,663,675, and Nineveh topped the governorates that did not receive their cards due to displacement and the events that accompanied the governorate after 2014.

Khalil believes that the reasons for the reluctance of voters in Iraq are due to the crisis of confidence between politicians and citizens (Al-Jazeera Net)

voters' reluctance

The writer and political analyst Bahaa Khalil believes that the reasons for the reluctance of voters in Iraq are due to the crisis of confidence between politicians and citizens, because Iraqis have gone through many electoral experiences in previous years, and each time they participate without touching the results of a real change in the reality of the country, as they did not see an improvement in aspects political, security, health, educational, and others.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Khalil attributes the reason why citizens did not receive their biometric cards from the registration centers of the Electoral Commission, to the lack of confidence, as many of the Iraqi people did not believe in the political process.

Khalil points out that most of the Iraqi street considers the Electoral Commission not independent, and there is an impression among many that electronic cards can be forged.

Regarding the participation rate in the upcoming elections, Khalil says that it depends on the audience of parties that can put pressure on citizens through political money and unarmed weapons. It is likely that the participation rate will not exceed 30% of the total eligible to vote.

Marcin Al-Shammari: The Iraqi government was keen to motivate citizens to update card data and participate in the elections (Al-Jazeera Net)

Difficulty changing

For her part, Marcin Al-Shammari, a researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, says that there is a bigger problem than the problem of Iraqis refusing to receive the biometric voter card, which is the refusal to register and participate in the elections, because they do not feel that the electoral process will be in a favorable situation. Safe for voters or candidates independent of the country's dominant political parties.

In her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Shammari notes that the Iraqi people feel that change has become difficult in the current period, and that there are parties controlling the country's situation, so they do not see the point in participating in the elections, because it will restore the same personalities and the same parties to rule the country.

She points out that the Iraqi government tried hard to motivate the people to update the card data as well as to receive it and participate in the elections, until there were efforts to convert the voters' cards into an official document used in government transactions other than the elections, but a large part of the Iraqi street lost hope in the elections.

Al-Shammari stressed the importance of the role of the religious authority and the United Nations in encouraging people to participate in the elections, warning that the lack of popular participation will result in a government that lacks credibility, which may lead to large popular protests, or may lead to a security vacuum or other political problems.

A large number of Iraqis lost confidence in the elections as a means of change (French - Archive)

financial reward

Although the financial reward was approved by the three presidencies during the periodic meeting with the Electoral Commission, it has not yet disclosed the amount of the reward, nor has it clarified the success of this initiative since its launch.

Qutaiba Mahmoud, head of the Information Division of the Anbar Governorate Office of the Electoral Commission, says that they encouraged citizens to update their electoral card data, and registration centers were opened, as well as mobile teams visiting areas for this purpose, and this continued until mid-April.

He adds to Al Jazeera Net that the office has taken many ways in this context, through various advertisements on satellite channels and others, in addition to holding specialized seminars, to urge citizens to update their data and educate them to participate in the elections.

Regarding the government financial grant, Mahmoud points out that it expired on the fifth of October, when the remaining cards were withdrawn from the centers.

Salman confirmed that the reward decision does not require the voter to vote, but is limited to receiving the biometric card (Al-Jazeera Net)

electoral bribery

The Iraqi judiciary published a report on electoral bribery as one of the crimes that aim to obstruct democratic mechanisms, as it targets the freedom to vote and the voter’s will. It influences this will by using money or the promise of a grant or award so that it directs the voter’s freedom and prevents him from expressing his will.

The judiciary noted that the penalty for electoral bribery is imprisonment for a period of no less than one year, according to the Law of Crimes and Punishments Related to Elections and Referendums No. 14 of 2008 and in the fifth section of the system, paragraph (1), which details the forms of the electoral bribery crime.

Writer and journalist Baraa Salman believes that electoral bribery prompted some parliamentarians to form a "cliental relationship" with a number of people or a clan of clans, whereby he would offer them electoral bribery in return for securing his seat in Parliament.

The Iraqi government says it has provided all the ingredients for holding legislative elections (Reuters)

And he shows to Al-Jazeera Net that this type of relationship turns the deputy from a member of the Legislative Council and a supervisory body to a "dealing tracker", and thus the weakening of the parliamentary role in Iraq to the point where it reached the point where the heads of blocs alone control the entire political scene.

Regarding the consideration by some observers of the decision of financial reward for the boycotters in return for receiving their cards as being part of electoral bribery, Salman says that it can be said that the interference occurs from the point of view of using money to change the convictions of voters, with the difference that the reward decision does not pay towards a political party or a candidate in and of itself. The voter is not required to vote, but is limited to receiving the biometric electoral card, as the citizen can receive his card, but he remains boycotting the elections.