US congratulates Iraqi government on elections; reaffirms right of self-defense against pro-Iran militias

“We congratulate the Iraqi government on having fulfilled its promise to hold early elections.”

Laurie Mylroie 2021/10/13 05:30

A man dips his finger in ink after voting at a polling station in Iraq's capital Baghdad during the early parliamentary elections on October 10, 2021. (Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

World

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – Both the State Department and Pentagon welcomed Baghdad’s success in the elections that it held, without violence, on Sunday.

The vote was held a year early, in response to large-scale protests in 2019 that brought down the previous prime minister, Adil Abdul Mahdi of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, one of Iraq’s several Shiite parties.

“We congratulate the Iraqi government on having fulfilled its promise to hold early elections,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday, following America’s Columbus Day holiday on Monday.

“We are pleased that the election days were largely conducted peacefully,” Price added, noting that Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission had announced preliminary results, “but we’re waiting for the final certified results.”

According to the preliminary results, the party of Iraq’s populist cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, won the largest number of seats in parliament:—about 73, although Sadr himself will not serve in parliament or hold any political office.

It was followed by a Sunni Arab coalition, led by the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, a civil engineer, who has earned a very positive reputation in the reconstruction of Anbar province, after large swathes of the Sunni Arab province were destroyed, after its capture by ISIS and then Baghdad’s counter offensive.

Among the Kurds, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) was the big winner, gaining seven more parliamentary seats than it had won in the 2018 elections, raising its total to 32.

Big Loser: Pro-Iranian Militias

The Fatah Alliance, which is based on the pro-Iranian militias within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), was the biggest loser in Sunday’s elections. It first entered parliament in 2018, benefiting from a low voter turnout. However, the pro-Iranian militias were actively involved in suppressing the 2019 popular demonstrations, in which some 600 protestors were killed.

The Fatah Alliance lost over half the seats it had won in 2018, winning only 20 on Sunday. Its head, Hadi al-Ameri, denounced the election results as “a scam,” while affirming, “We will defend the votes of our candidates and voters with full force,” raising the prospect it might respond with violence, including the targeting of US forces in Iraq.

However, Pentagon Press Secretary, John Kirby, at a press conference on Tuesday warned, “Our commanders have the right of self-defense.”

“They have the capabilities to defend themselves, if they need it,” Kirby continued, while he described the mission of US forces in Iraq as “predominantly to help the Iraqi Security Forces improve their capabilities against ISIS.”

At the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a large number of foreigners were present to monitor the Iraqi elections. One such group came from the United Nations and operated under the auspices of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), while a second group came from the European Union.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, like Price and Kirby, similarly welcomed the conclusion of the elections, congratulating Iraqis “for the way the elections took place,” while calling for a continued “environment of peace, of security, and of tranquility,” as the final results are determined and a new government is formed.