Moja held a meeting about participation or boycotting of elections, Dr. Aqeel Abbas -university professor and researcher- and Faris Kamal Nadhmi, -researcher and professor- as well as many other activists, journalists, and protesters participated.
Dr. Aqeel Abbas talked about the opportunities that are now available for the protesters in the election, and mentioned that there are two fronts in the demonstrations. First, the revolutionary front that believes that there is no use of any constitutional institution and the current political arena, and the only remedy is to overthrow the current political system entirely. The second is the reformational front which believes in participating in the current political system and to fix it from within, As for the election, the revolutionary front is louder and more influential because of active militias in Iraq with all of the kidnapping and assassinating acts that they have adopted. Moreover, the result of the failure of the government to safeguard the arena for vast participation of people and safe competition, Dr. Aqeel thinks that the main reason why protesters boycott elections is because they are afraid of losing it. This will automatically lead to the failure of the goals of demonstrations. Also, he believes that reasons of boycotting elections are false and irrational because even if 1% of voters participate, this will give legitimacy to the system.
Then, Dr. Faris Kamal Nadhmi talked about systematic boycotting. Otherwise, if the oppositional fronts did not organize their goals and did not unify, they will fail in their aims. Systematic boycotting should be organizational which will lead to official opposition to the system. This type of boycotting is not merely abstaining from participating in the election, but it should be investing this large power for further future political and social reformation.
The third intervention was by Dr. Muhammed Al-Quraishi who focused on the importance of having a political elite who have a futuristic view and moral framework because one of the main reasons for current demonstrations is the lack of morality among politicians. He also added that change needs vast participation in the elections.
Mr. Katu Sadallah mentioned that the Iraqi people have experienced both participating and boycotting the elections so they know the disadvantages of both options. He also mentioned that many countries had expressed their readiness to help Iraq through the UN, but the problem was their absence in the supervision on the election. If there was any international supervision on the election, most people will certainly participate in the election. He also doubted the preciseness of the date of the election in October 2021.
Mr. Haidar Al-Jourani claimed that this is the first time in which boycotting is adopted as a democratic method of political opposition. According to Al-Jourani, the coming election is exceptional and critical, so people have to choose to boycott as a means of overthrowing the current political system.
Mr. Salih Al-Hamdani added that the phase after the assassination of Al-Wazni created a dilemma among people on choosing between participation and boycotting. In both cases, Al-Hamdani believes, political awareness is important.
Mr. Ali Al-Sagir claims that the political status in the country is experiencing a transformation after the October demonstration. He believes that all countries that appointed early elections without any general consent among political parties have failed in their mission. He also believes that election is not merely choosing a candidate on the election day, but it is of three stages: the pre-election day, the election day, and the post-election day.
Mr. Saif Al-Khaledi referred to the importance of co-operating with the EU after there was an agreement to send delegations to supervise the election.
The activist Yasir Al-Jobouri mentioned that boycotting the election will result in a bloodbath. The end of the game is clear because we have previous experiences on this issue.
The journalist Mustafa Nasir claimed that the only solution for current problems is an organized boycotting of the election, not like the 2018 election. He believes there is no proper alternative among the candidates.
the journalist Samir Jawad suggests that boycotting the election is the best way to overthrow the current political system, and it has reached a dead end.
The journalist Ahmad Al-Sohail believes that the political system is strictly closed and it is almost impossible for the newly-formed parties to enter that circle. Moreover, the waves of assassinations give the impression that the political arena is at war and it is impossible to have an election in the light of such a fierce war. So, participating in the election will never change anything, as the previous experiences have proved.
Mr. Husain Al-Gurabi clarified that the current political system in Iraq is entirely deformed with the guise of democracy. It is impossible to have safe competition in the election with the presence of such political parties who use the law and weapons to silence everyone. Our main goal is not a mere seat in the parliament, but a comprehensive reformation of the democratic system. He added that in the previous elections there was also international supervision, yet many forgeries occurred and the UN legitimatized the political system. The contradiction is that they emphasized that they do not want any change without democratic means, yet they adopt an election with the standards of the same political parties.
Mr. Baleeg Abu Gelal clarified that arresting Qasim Muslih is an achievement in the path of electoral improvement, though it was not accomplished completely. This arrest was the result of the insistence of some political parties. He believes that political decisions must control the power of armory. He also explained how political methods have been modified in the public arena.
The author Mr. Faris Harram claimed that the real reason behind current demonstrations is to form a new political power, despite the absence of a unifying leadership. He also said that there are some parliament members never presented anything tangible. So, the participation of such members in the demonstration would weaken the movement. He also believes that the parliament is officially leading the country, but in reality, armory and regional decisions are the real players in the Iraqi political arena. According to Harram, there are armed groups who have a few parliament members but are more effective than other bigger parties who have over fifty members. The coming election, he claims, is the election of October movement: then what is the benefit of such an election that does not realize the terms and conditions of this movement. Finally, he believes that unification in both ways, participating or boycotting the election, is the only solution to make our voice heard.
Dr. Misid Al-Rajehi claimed that change is achieved through time, especially in Iraq. He also mentioned that there is indecisiveness concerning the call for the improvement of security conditions.
Mr. Muhammed Hanoon suggested that a boycott is not a safe solution. Change is achieved through democratic means.
Dr. Ali Al-Khafaji called for the necessity of the trial of the assassins of protesters, and the importance of order and controlling loose weapons. It is also necessary to hold the election.
Output:
• Calls for a boycott of the elections are caused by fear of failure, which protesters associate with the failure of protests. In addition, there are insufficient guarantees of a boycott under the constitution, as the participation of 1 percent of voters would give legitimacy to the elections, which could put boycott advocates in an embarrassing position.
• The chances of a boycott of the elections remain if the forces calling for the boycott are organized under an opposition framework that can later benefit from the energy of reluctance and invest it politically in the future, and the province will produce a political class that has a different vision and has moral rigour and reflects the values that emerged from the protesting public and which are lacking in the parties holding power.
• Untied Nations oversight of the election process will push many voters to participate in the elections, as their lack of confidence in the government overseeing the elections is an important reason for them to adopt the boycott option.
• Reforming the political process will not take place in accordance with elections prepared according to the sizes of the current parties that use public money to finance their agendas and weapons to kill their opponents. So it’s unbelievable to go to an election with the results prepared in advance, the option of
participation remains if the government provides guarantees that the elections will be held on conditions set by the protesting public, most notably to stop the assassinations of activists, hold the killers accountable and provide a secure electoral atmosphere in which all candidates and voters are guaranteed their lives.
