War-scarred Iraq holds parliamentary elections on October 10, a year early to appease an anti-government protest movement, in a nation that remains mired in corruption and economic crisis.
The country is emerging from almost two decades of conflict and insurgency since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, promising to bring freedom and democracy.
Despite being a major oil producer, Iraq is close to being "economically and ideologically bankrupt," said Renad Mansour of the London-based Chatham House.According to UN figures, nearly a third of Iraq's almost 40 million people live in poverty, and the pandemic and last year's fall in oil prices only deepened a long-running crisis.
The activists railed against graft, unemployment and crumbling public services, but the protests ended after being hit by a wave of bloody violence and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The most powerful pro-Iranian factions are from the bloc linked to the Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella group of paramilitary groups, which helped defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.
Political scientist Fadel Abou Raghif warned of "the danger of a security deterioration after the announcement of the results"."The results could come as a shock by not matching their expectations," he said. "This could lead them to wage war on the results." Washington has blamed pro-Iranian groups for attacks on its interests in Iraq, where it still stations 2,500 troops, deployed as part of the anti-IS coalition.
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