After the security and military victory that Iraq was able to achieve after defeating the terrorist organization ISIS , observers of Iraqi affairs anticipated , whether regional or international countries , or political analysis, that Iraq would enhance this victory with political ones when its legislative elections were held on 12 May where it was hoped that the will of the Iraqi people would be protected and safeguarded when they vote at the ballot box, but hope is something and reality is something else.As the fraud and manipulation of the will of the people is the most prominent title in those elections, and this is documented in Iraq and internationally. With the announcement of the results, the voices of skeptics on the integrity of the electoral process have been risen especially in Sunni and Kurdish circles. The skeptics have moved in four main directions: first by communicating with the UN and providing them with evidence supporting their claims; second by resorting to the Iraqi judiciary and providing the necessary evidence; and third by the media to feed the public with detailed information on the conditions of manipulation; the fourth by the motivation of the parliament against the Results . Skeptics say manual counting will satisfy everyone, but observers say the results may anger some large blocs, and topple some winners whome the Commission announced their victory.
The methods of fraud and manipulation have varied, including the purchase of election cards by parties and candidates, and manipulation of counting and sorting that took place in the stations and electoral centers in the provinces and Baghdad. The new fraud that emerged in these elections is the electronic system that has been hacked and broken. Experts have warned against using the electronic method in the Iraqi elections, for several reasons, the most important of which is the process of manual counting and sorting is more transparent and credible than this that is done electronically, adding that, although it is done within a few hours, but it facilitates the process of fraud for example that the observers of the political entities or their representatives can not view the counting process because they are done within the e-election fund. In addition, the electronic voting does not guarantee that there is no manipulation in the counting and sorting results. Therefore, the elections lacked transparency and forgery became a reality.
In the face of this great manipulation of the will of the Iraqi people, there are several questions in this context: Is Iraq in its present position able to bear this manipulation, and how can a simple Iraqi citizen to trust his constitutional powers, including the legislative authority which is illegitimate, and how can accept a government whether it is a government of national unity or a coalition or a partisan or technocrats emanates from that authority, and does it have any value to the Iraqi community, and is talking about the citizenship values and strengthening them in the Iraqi citizen has become a value can be sacrificed for it, and whether this fraud which is a precedent in the history of Contemporary elections is the reward to be granted to people who have suffered from the military, economic, security, political and psychological scourge ?
The experience of the nations in the advancement of their peoples during the Second World War did not tell us whether the German, Japanese, Singaporean, Malaysian, South African and Turkish experiences that they were based on the falsification of the will of their peoples but they were inspired by that will to advance and walk a head towards the goals of their peoples. We didn’t read in these experiences about “ugly” fraud, as happened in the Iraqi elections, is it reasonable in the postmodern world to forge the will of a people in the way that the will of the Iraqi people has been forged?
Everyone remembers the donor conference held in Kuwait last February and that Iraq built on it many hopes to get out of it with funds not less than 88 billion US dollars The outcome of the conference that Iraq did not get what he wanted noting that the government of Haider Abadi was enjoyed With Arab, regional and international support .The question arises in this context in front the parliament which is questionable of its legitimacy and is in charge of forming the government : Will Iraq receive financial support from Arab, regional and international countries and will businessmen venture to open economic projects in Iraq with their prior knowledge of a legislative authority whose legitimacy is questionable?
In conclusion, the controversy that surrounded the results of the parliamentary elections in Iraq has dispelled hopes for a period of stability which is an extension of the efforts to restore security throughout the country led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi since he took office in August 2014. Where is the interest of the homeland and citizen from the Iraqi election fraud?
Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies