Iraqis overseas seethe at barring them from balloting
Shafaq News/ The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) decree to cancel overseas balloting infuriated Iraqi in diaspora, particularly minorities, who deemed the resolution a deprivation from their constitutional right.
Iraqi journalist, Othman Al-Mukhtar, said, "canceling the Iraqi votes abroad is a violation of the constitution. IHEC does not have the right to omit the votes of thousands of Iraqis living outside the country as it also inflicts damage to different segments of society."
"Post-2003 Iraq has witnessed the migration of most Christians. Depriving them of voting will strip them from their right to choose their representatives, especially in mixed governorates where Christians have a modest demographic mass. The same applies to Kurds and Sunnis because thousands of them reside outside Iraq," he added.
"Forestalling elections is predicated on the will of some political forces. The decision hampers emerging civil blocs, to which the majority of Iraqis abroad were determined to vote."
"IHEC's decision to cancel our votes is unfair. It must be reconsidered because canceling our votes means that we are not even recognized as Iraqis", said Milad Sami, a Christian journalist who lives in Australia.
"The sufferings of the minorities after 2003 has prompted the majority to leave the country. Now, the government did not even allow them to have representatives in the parliament. IHEC should reverse this decision because it violates the minorities' rights," Sami added.
"The decision to cancel the elections abroad proved that IHEC is unable to meet the challenges of some powerful political blocs, as well as its failure to conduct transparent elections," Said Arshad al-Salihi, chairman of the parliamentary Committee for Human Rights.
For her part, IHEC's spokesperson, Jumana Al-Ghallay stated, "Iraqi expats who will not participate in the elections despite being eligible to vote are estimated around a million."
According to the legal expert, Tariq Harb, "IHEC has compelling reasons to cancel the votes of Iraqis overseas. Iraqi embassies have apologized for holding the elections; states are restricting the access of foreigners and residents' movement because of the COVİD-19 pandemic. The funds required to hold elections abroad are enormous."
"From past experiences, most of muddling cases took place abroad, for elections are held under the supervision of the electoral station's director, with no international, governmental, or even civil supervision," he added.
"The 2015 elections proved that elections abroad are inevitably prone to muddling. An electoral station reported 30,000 voter cards, while the real number was only 2,000. Iraqis abroad are nearly 2 million. Only 136,000 participated in the elections, so it is reasonable to cancel them," Tariq Harb concluded.
