At dawn on Monday, the Iraqi parliament approved an amendment to the parliamentary elections law, which constitutes a return to the law that was in force before the October 2019 demonstrations, which angers independent and small parties that see it as serving the interests of major parties.
According to Iraqi sources, the vote on the new amendment to the parliamentary elections law took place in a stormy session that witnessed the withdrawal and objection of independent parliamentary blocs, which see this law as a consecration of the control of major parties and blocs over the next session of parliament and the absence of independent democratic currents.
According to a statement issued by the House of Representatives, the Council voted in its "sixteenth session. At dawn today, Monday, in the presence of 218 deputies, on the Third Amendment Law to the Law on the Elections of the House of Representatives, Provincial Councils and Districts No. (12) of 2018.
The coordinating framework holds a majority in parliament and is a coalition of Shi'ite parties that support current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
Condemnation
The law is a return to the 2018 law, which was rejected by the protest movement that took place in the country in the fall of 2019, and the protesters succeeded in achieving the demand for a new electoral law that allowed the victory of independent candidates, as independents managed in the 2021 elections to win about 70 seats out of 329.
The parliamentary and provincial council elections expected in November will thus be held on the basis of the amended law.
In the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, local parliamentary elections will be held on November 18 under a different law.
The new amended electoral law makes each governorate a single electoral district, 18 districts, abolishing the 83 districts adopted in the last elections.
The independent Imtidad movement in the Iraqi parliament denounced what it described as "blatant attacks against the representatives of the people, MPs of the Imtidad movement, other opposition forces from the emerging movements and independent deputies who refuse to pass the provincial councils law in its current form, as it is a challenge to the will of the people."
The movement stated, in a press statement, that "the attack on deputies by the security forces and the threat to terminate the membership by the speaker of parliament is a dangerous precedent that contradicts the principles of democracy and moral values, due to the moral character of the MP and the voters he represents."
The Imtidad movement confirmed that it will submit "an appeal to the Federal Supreme Court for any decisions issued by this session for the Speaker of Parliament to forcibly remove deputies from inside the hall, in violation of the law and internal regulations."