Shafaq News/ The leader of the Asa'ib al-Haq movement, Qais al-Khazali, stressed on Sunday that Iraq needs a prime minister with an economic vision, neither a "political nor security."

Al-Khazali said in a statement after casting his ballot, "We hope for a serious start after suffering because Iraq deserves a better future," calling Iraqis for a high turnout.

He added, "The participation must be high for more than one reason, because elections are the only way to change the current situation, and because they are in response to the call of the supreme religious authority (Sayyed Ali Sistani)."

"We hope that the public polls will be no less than the special polls (which was held last Friday)," noting that "the international role is important and gives reassurance, and we are waiting for the results."

The Asa'ib Leader pointed out, "these elections come after the resignation of a government and massive demonstrations…they are elections in exceptional circumstances."

Concerning the new PM, he said, "we prefer to be an economic figure, and not a politician because the (political) situation is heading towards calm, especially after the Iranian-Saudi political rapprochement and we do not suffer from security problems, but rather we suffer from economic conditions."

Iraqis started on Sunday voting in a general election, their fifth legislative elections since the fall of the regime of late President Saddam Hussein at the hands of US forces and their allies in 2003.

Several months early, the election was held under a new law designed to help independent candidates - a response to mass anti-government protests two years ago. 

Polling stations scattered across the country opened their doors at 7:00 local time to voters amid international supervision and strict security measures, as 23 million voters are eligible to vote to select 329 candidates for the parliamentary session, in which 57,834 polling stations were included.

Many Iraqi officials cast their ballots, including President Barham Salih, the Kurdish President, Nechirvan Barzani, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada al-Sadr, Ammar al-Hakim, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Qubad Talabani, and Khamis al-Khanjar.

Last Friday, 821,800 out of 1196524 voters (69%) of Soldiers, prisoners, and displaced people voted in special early polls in Iraq.