Iraq Holds First Nationwide Election Since IS Defeat

Qubad Talabani (R), Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, votes at a polling station in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah on May 12, 2018. Iraq headed to the polls for its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State group, with the country hoping to shore up a fragile peace and rebuild. Shwan Mohammed / AFP

Iraqis headed to the polls on Saturday to elect the country’s parliamentarians, the first time since it declared victory over the Islamic State group.

Report suggests that voters trooped out to vote across the war-torn country as violence has slowed down in the nation.

According to report, 24.5 million voters are expected to elect their law makers in the Arab nation.

AFP reports that since the US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein, disillusionment is widespread and politics is dominated by old faces from an elite seen as mired in corruption and sectarianism.

In the former IS bastion, second city Mosul — still partly in ruins from the months-long fight to oust the group  — residents hoped for an uptick in their fortunes as they struggle to put their lives back together.

A senior security official said that some 900,000 police and soldiers are on high alert to protect the vote, with airports and borders shut for the day.

Polling stations are open until 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) and initial results are expected in three days.





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