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Iraqis Vote In Landmark Parliamentary Elections

April 30, 2014
by RFE/RL

Polls have closed in the first parliamentary election in Iraq since U.S. forces withdrew from the country in 2011.

Despite a series of attacks in the days leading up to the April 30 elections, millions of Iraqis turned out at tightly guarded polling stations to cast ballots.

More than 9,000 candidates from 277 political blocs are competing for the 328-seat legislature.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has been in power since 2006, predicted his State of Law party would win the most seats in parliament and that he would return for a third term as prime minister.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police fanned out across the country to protect the millions of voters taking part in the elections.

Some 34 of the country's 8,104 polling stations were closed at noon due to security concerns.

RFE/RL correspondents in the restive western Anbar Province reported light turnouts at polling stations there, particularly in cities, as government forces in Anbar continue to battle militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Authorities said before voting started that only some 70 percent of polling stations in Anbar Province would be open due to security concerns.

Some violence was reported on April 30 across the country, with at least 14 people reported killed and 16 wounded.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in an April 30 statement that 'with ink-stained thumbs, Iraqi voters sent a powerful rebuke to the violent extremists who have tried to thwart democratic progress.'

Kerry has praised Iraqis who 'courageously voted.'

It is unclear when final results from the April 30 elections will be announced.

Results from the 2010 elections were not announced until some two weeks after voting.

Elections officials hoped to release at least partial voter turnout figures during the evening of April 30.

Based on reports by RFE/RL Iraq Service, AP, and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq-parliamentary-elections/25367509.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.