The American Wall Street Journal said that the Iraqi legislative elections - whose votes are now being counted - may determine the future of US forces still in the country, as well as the path that Baghdad will take in the geopolitical struggle for influence between Washington and Tehran.
The newspaper pointed out that the economic crisis and rampant corruption in Iraq dominated the early elections, which were held ahead of time as a result of the popular movement that the country has witnessed since October 2019.
She also indicated that the voting operations were also affected by the conflict between the Iranian-backed militias and the US-backed militias, which still maintain about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq and are under increasing political pressure to get out of it after their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to the Wall Street Journal, many young Iraqis preferred to protest against casting their votes in elections that they believe - most likely - will not change anything in the reality of their country.
Inconclusive results
The newspaper said that given the nature of the political system in Iraq - where many parties compete for the votes of the country's various sectarian groups - it is unlikely that the elections will produce a decisive result.
She expected that the political forces would need weeks - and perhaps months - of negotiations to form a government after the election results were announced.
She also indicated that opinion polls expect the political bloc led by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to win the largest share of parliament seats, which will strengthen his position in the negotiations to form a government.
A poll conducted by the Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue, an Iraqi think tank, indicates that Sadr's bloc will win 42 seats in parliament, down from the 54 it won in the 2018 elections.
The Wall Street Journal quoted the Iraqi Electoral Commission as saying that the turnout in the elections that took place on Sunday was relatively low;
It did not exceed 41% of all registered voters.
It is noteworthy that the early legislative elections that Iraq witnessed yesterday, Sunday, the tenth of October, took place amid strict security measures.
The country's High Electoral Commission has announced that the vote counting and counting operations are still continuing, and that the final results will be announced 24 hours after the polls close.