The upcoming parliamentary elections are unconstitutional, MP says

Shafaq News/ MP of Sairoon Alliance, representing the Sadrist movement, Riyadh Al-Masoudi, said on Sunday that the upcoming parliamentary elections will not have "reassuring results" for the Iraqi people.

Al-Masoudi told Shafaq News Agency, "holding the early elections aims to obtain fair results and reassuring outcomes for the Iraqi people, and to bridge the rift between the people and the political class," noting that choosing June 6 and even November 10 was unconstitutional.

"The November elections will not take place under normal conditions, which is the reason for the withdrawal of influential political forces from the elections."

Al-Masoudi warned of the constitutional mechanisms for holding elections within Article 56 that determines the life of the council of Representatives and Article 64 regarding dissolving it, upon the request of two-thirds of Parliament or the request of the Prime Minister and the approval of the President of the Republic, "which confirms that the procedures for setting the date of early elections are unconstitutional and not based on the aforementioned article."

"The elections are still subject to regional interference," noting, "some forces are communicating with countries in the region, which indicates that the elections are not an internal Iraqi affair, but rather an international and regional one."

Al-Masoudi linked the elections to the Security and Partnership Conference that will be held in Iraq with the major countries, noting that the features of the next political stage will be clear after this conference.

The elections will be held under UN supervision, and after extending the Security Council's stay in Iraq for one year and the elections' features will become clear in terms of the number of participants and the participation percentage, according to al-Masoudi.