Iraqi Prime Minister Sets Date Of Snap Parliamentary Elections In June 2021

CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2020) The snap election to Iraq's unicameral parliament, the Council of Representatives, has been scheduled for June 6 next year, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi said on Friday.

"I announce that the early election of deputies will take place on June 6, 2021. We will make all efforts for these elections to succeed and be protected," Kadhimi said in a television address.

The Iraqi prime minister confirmed that international observers would be invited to monitor the vote. He also urged the country's electoral authority, the Supreme Election Commission, to exercise impartiality.

Part of Kadhimi's address was also a statement that Iraq refuses to be dragged into international conflicts.

Iraq was in a political vacuum for nearly five months before Kadhimi was sworn in and formed a government in May. The previous government of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi collapsed last November on the back of months-long nationwide protests against corruption and poor living conditions.