I will not allow another postponement of the elections, Al-Sadr said

Shafaq News / Iraqi populist cleric and the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday expressed his rejection to delay the parliamentary elections in Iraq.

Al-Sadr said in a statement, "If life goes ... I will not allow another postponement of the elections ..."

"During this period, everyone should be patriotic…. and work to stop clashes," he added.

Al-Sadr stressed, "We should be wary of corruption and manipulations, whether in the election law or interfering in the commission work or anything else that hurts the people."

Iraq’s cabinet decided on Tuesday to postpone the general election to Oct. 10 from June, the state news agency INA said.

Early elections were a key demand of anti-government protesters who staged mass demonstrations that started in October 2019. Hundreds were killed by security forces and gunmen suspected of links to militia groups.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on Tuesday the decision to set a new date to hold an early contest was made to give IHEC enough time to be fully prepared to hold fair and transparent elections, a cabinet statement cited Kadhimi as saying.