Baghdad prepares for Sunday's Iraqi election

The Iraqi capital Baghdad is decorated with posters of candidates for the upcoming Iraqi election that will take place on Sunday. This year, the election will be held under a new reformed electoral law that divides Iraq into 83 constituencies, instead of 18, which theoretically allows more independent candidates to participate.

Iraq has requested U.N. monitoring on election day - October 10 - and the U.N. is also helping Iraq's High Electoral Commission, the official body that oversees polls. The electoral law changes fell short of demands by protesters. Activists had wanted more of the smaller districts, but after 11 months of talks, lawmakers agreed on 83, up from 18.

The lines were drawn to facilitate a 25% participation quota by women for 329 parliament seats. Walking around the Tahrir Square in Baghdad, the protest hub for Iraqi mass protests during October 2019, Activist Ahmed Hashoush called for a boycott of the upcoming Iraqi election.

Hashoush with sorrow and sadness remembered the Tishreen (October) revolution accusing the international community of not supporting the Iraqi people voices "unfortunately lot of politicians and countries have silenced their ears on the Iraqi voice calling for real change" said Hashoush. Over 600 people died in the October 2019 mass protests.

Security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the crowds. The protests died down after few months because of the brutal crackdown and the coronavirus pandemic. There have been demands for serious efforts in bringing weapons under the control of the state security forces.

Meanwhile, election campaigns continued in Iraq two days before the parliamentarian election day. Hundreds of Iran-backed group Al-Fateh bloc held a rally at the martyr's monument. Al-Fateh supporters marched holding Iraqi flags and chanted slogans against the US and Israel. An Iranian back party, Asaeb Ahl Al-Haq called on all foreign troops to pull out of Iraqi soil.

Qais Al-Khazali, the head of the party called on the high turnout of the elections accusing some countries of being against the Iraqi political system. Iraq has requested U.N. monitoring on election day, and the U.N. is also helping Iraq's High Electoral Commission, the official body that oversees polls. Iraqi authorities, with the help of the U.N., are taking measures to prevent voter fraud. There will also be 130 international experts monitoring the polls, along with 600 support staff. An independent audit firm will keep tabs on how votes are counted.