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world news Dialuna 11 OctOber 2021

Iraqi vote spurred by mass protests marred by boycott

(AP) — Iraqis voted Sun- dam Hussein after the U.S.- car dealer, disagreed. “I don’t
day in parliamentary elec- led invasion of Iraq in 2003. want these same faces and
tions held months ahead Many were skeptical that in- same parties to return,” he
of schedule as a concession dependent candidates from said after casting his ballot in
to a youth-led popular up- the protest movement stood Baghdad’s Karradah district.
rising against corruption a chance against well-en-
and mismanagement. trenched parties and politi- Iraq’s Prime Minister Musta-
cians, many of them backed fa al-Kadhimi, whose chanc-
But the voting was marked by by powerful armed militias. es for a second term will be
widespread apathy and a boy- determined by the results of
cott by many of the young Minutes after polls closed, the election, urged Iraqis to
activists who thronged the fireworks organized by Bagh- vote in large numbers.
streets of Baghdad and Iraq’s dad’s municipality went off
southern provinces in late in the city’s landmark Tahrir “Get out and vote, and change
2019. Tens of thousands of Square, where demonstrators your future,,” said al-Kadhi-
people took part in the mass had set up tents for several mi, repeating the phrase, “get
protests and were met by se- months starting in October out” three times after casting
curity forces firing live am- 2019. The protests fizzled his ballot at a school in Bagh- came in second in the previ- of seats.
munition and tear gas. More out by February of the fol- dad’s heavily fortified Green ous election.
than 600 people were killed lowing year, due to the secu- Zone, home to foreign em- The election is the first since
and thousands injured within rity crackdown and later, the bassies and government of- The Fatah Alliance is com- the fall of Saddam to proceed
just a few months. coronavirus pandemic. fices. prised of parties and affili- without a curfew in place,
ated with the Popular Mobi- reflecting the significantly
Although authorities gave in Today, the square stands Under Iraq’s laws, the win- lization Forces, an umbrella improved security situation
and called the early elections, largely empty. The country ner of Sunday’s vote gets to group of mostly pro-Iran Shi- in the country following the
the death toll and the heavy- faces huge economic and choose the country’s next ite militias that rose to prom- defeat of IS in 2017. Previous
handed crackdown - as well security challenges, and al- prime minister, but it’s un- inence during the war against votes were marred by fight-
as a string of targeted assas- though most Iraqis long for likely any of the competing the Sunni extremist Islamic ing and deadly bomb attacks
sinations - prompted many change, few expect it to hap- coalitions can secure a clear State group. It includes some that have plagued the country
who took part in the protests pen as a result of the elec- majority. That will require of the most hard-line Iran- for decades.
to later call for a boycott of tions. a lengthy process involv- backed factions, such as the
the vote. ing backroom negotiations Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia. Al- More than 250,000 security
Muna Hussein, a 22-year-old to select a consensus prime Sadr, a black-turbaned na- personnel across the country
Polls closed at 1500 GMT cinematic makeup artist, said minister and agree on a new tionalist leader, is also close were tasked with protecting
(1800 local time) following she boycotted the election coalition government. It took to Iran, but publicly rejects the vote. Soldiers, police and
11 hours of voting. Results because she did not feel there eight months of political its political influence. anti-terrorism forces fanned
are expected within the next was a safe environment “with wrangling to form a govern- out and deployed outside
24 hours, according to the uncontrolled weapons ev- ment after the 2018 elections. Earlier Sunday, al-Sadr cast polling stations, some of
independent body that over- erywhere,” a reference to the his ballot in the Shiite holy which were ringed by barbed
sees Iraq’s election. But ne- mainly Shiite militias backed Groups drawn from Iraq’s city of Najaf, swarmed by wire. Voters were patted
gotiations to choose a prime by neighboring Iran. majority Shiite Muslims local journalists. He then down and searched.
minister tasked with forming dominate the electoral land- drove away in a white sedan
a government are expected “In my opinion, it isn’t easy scape, with a tight race ex- without commenting. Al- As a security precaution, Iraq
to drag on for weeks or even to hold free and fair elections pected between Iraq’s influ- Sadr, a populist who has an closed its airspace and land
months. under the current circum- ential Shiite cleric Moqtada immense following among border crossings and scram-
stances,” she said. al-Sadr, and the Fatah Al- Iraq’s working class Shiites, bled its air force from Satur-
The election was the sixth liance, led by paramilitary came out on top in the 2018 day night until early Monday
held since the fall of Sad- Amir Fadel, a 22-year-old leader Hadi al-Ameri, which elections, winning a majority morning.

Police arrest Indian minister’s son in killing of farmers

(AP) — Indian police on Saturday Modi’s government as a suspect demonstrations by tens of thou- to furnish any supportive evidence
arrested the son of a junior min- days after nine people were killed sands of farmers against conten- to prove that he was not present in
ister in Prime Minister Narendra in a deadly escalation of yearlong tious agriculture laws in northern any of the three vehicles that plowed
India, a police officer said. through a crowd of farmers killing
four of them.”
Four farmers died Sunday when a
car owned by Junior Home Minister His father Ajay Mishra said that his
Ajay Mishra ran over a group of pro- son was innocent and that he was not
testing farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, a present.
town in Uttar Pradesh state, officials
and farm leaders said. The arrest came a day after India’s
top court criticized the state govern-
Farm leaders alleged that Mishra’s ment for not arresting Ashish Mishra
son was in the car when it ran over against whom a criminal case of
the protesters, but Mishra denied it. murder is being investigated by the
His driver and three members of the police. On Friday, Mishra made the
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who police wait for hours for questioning
were in a car, were all killed by the before sending a message that he was
protesters by beating them with sticks unwell and couldn’t make it.
in the violence that broke out after
the incident. Darshan Pal, a farmers’ leader, and
Akhilesh Singh, an opposition Con-
Police officer Upendra Agarwal said gress party leader, demanded the re-
on Saturday that Ashish Misra was moval of his father from Modi’s gov-
arrested following day-long ques- ernment.
tioning in the town after “he failed