Will the October forces waste the chance of the October elections?
Shafaq News / The recent conference in Karbala governorate sparked controversy over the participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections between the nascent political forces affiliated with popular protests known as the "October Revolution", which resurfaced after the assassination of activist Ehab Al-Wazni on May 9.
The conference witnessed intense debates calling for boycotting the upcoming elections, but it ended with an announcement of a massive demonstration on May 25 to demand the disclosure of the demonstrators' killers.
"Boycotting the upcoming elections is not an escape, rather than a logical reading of the reality in light of the existing unrestrained weapons, corrupt political money, and lack of real justice," civil activist Zayed al-Asad said.
"There is no international supervision over the elections, and the 'October' parties were only established six months ago. The Iraqi street needs years of political theory to be convinced with the political project."
Al-Asad continued, "The decision to boycott the elections came after a real and comprehensive reading of the situation. Participating in the elections is a losing cause in regards of the results," adding, "We support the boycott decision, but the real matter is that the demonstrators do not know how to confront this regime, or how to get their rights."
"The protest movement in Iraq has many demands, including the electoral demand – of which the protestors are blamed of demanding it and then abandoning it - which is not really major to us, because the October protestors had many demands, namely, electoral security, electoral justice, the elimination of corrupt money, and international supervision," he added.
"We would certainly participate in the elections if these demands were implemented. If not, there would be no real purpose of the elections," al-Asad said, calling on the "October Revolution" blocs and parties to put forward real visions and projects so that they would be able -at some point- to replace the status quo, "The revolution's parties are not prepared yet, and their projects are not mature enough to be a part of the election."
"In the situation at hand, the participation of the October parties in the elections would wind up as a cover for the current corrupt parties. What is the point of obtaining six or seven parliamentary seats if the corrupt parties will end up with dozens of seats?" he wondered.
Sajjad Salim, an activist from Wasit governorate, said, "participating in the elections is a means of protesting against the corrupt. There is an agreement that the member of the October Revolution -whether a party or an independent entity- that obtain parliamentary seats will be the political opposition. They will not be within any authority or even the existing parties, and this is our vision for the upcoming elections."
"The participation of nearly 30% in the upcoming elections grants it full legitimacy and the approval of the international community. The protesters' participation, whether it took place or not, would not affect that. The parliament is a legislative institution in which everyone has the right to elect those they see fit to represent them. The only way to reach the aspired results from the upcoming elections is by boycotting it completely, which would not happen as many have already decided to participate," Salim added.
"In the October revolution, there were two political views: boycotting the elections and participating in it. The Karbala conference did not cause a rift in the October Revolution, nor did it make a coup. In fact, there was an opinion inside the conference that the issue of elections should be separated from the disclosure of activist Ehab Al-Wazni's murderers' identity. Yet, some have treated the elections as a reaction to Al-Wazni's assassination," Salim continued.
"The upcoming demonstration on May 25, 2021, will witness the participation of all parties. The most prominent demands will be revealing the identity of the demonstrators' killers and supporting Karbala's demonstrators' demands to impeach Karbala's governor and security Commanders. The option of boycotting the elections is being considered very seriously by all the October parties and blocs, and it may be issued at any moment, as everyone is practicing his right to run for the elections in unsafe circumstances and unstable electoral situation."
For his part, Hussein al-Shalekh, a leader of the National Awareness Movement, stated, "the withdrawal of October Revolution movements from the upcoming elections means handing Iraq over to corrupt parties, and this cannot be sought at the moment."
"The turnout in the last elections was 18%; originally 13%, but the extra 5% was added to increase the percentage. The 13% represents the current proponents of the power holders, who are currently working hard to defend them because their departure means that they would end up in prison for their unlawful deeds," al-Shalekh noted.
He added, "The current regime is the main suspect in killing the demonstrators. However, the unrestrained weapon is not the main reason behind the October demonstrators' non-participation in the upcoming elections, because Iraq has changed after the October Revolution, i.e., there is no longer fear of anyone."
"Perhaps calls for bowing out from the upcoming elections is a part of the pressure to bring international supervision, which is a shred of an international scenario, to pull the rug from under the current ruling parties. Unfortunately, this is what some well-paid external pens are doing when they address Iraq's inside and call for refraining from participating in the upcoming elections."
In a few days, protesters and activists from various governorates are slated to float to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, to stage a huge demonstration in an effort to revive the protest movement in the squares of the entire country, a source from the popular protests revealed.
