IHEC: Private campaign food aid within legal limits
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Food baskets filled with rice, sugar, oil, and beans have become a recurring feature of Iraq’s parliamentary election campaigns, sparking debate over whether the practice blurs the legal lines.
Hassan Hadi al-Zayer, a member of the media team at Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), told Shafaq News that such distributions are permissible as long as they are financed privately, clarifying, “Campaign Regulation No. 4 of 2025 explicitly bans the use of public funds or state resources for electioneering.”
Al-Zayer added that IHEC is monitoring campaign financing closely to prevent the misuse of government resources, warning that any confirmed breach will trigger legal action.
The official campaign period began on October 3 and will continue through November 8, with IHEC intensifying oversight of media coverage ahead of the November 11 vote. So far, more than 800 candidates have been disqualified—some under the Accountability and Justice Law, others for criminal convictions or legal ineligibility.
Read more: Disqualified candidates: Iraq's electoral body under fire
