BAGHDAD, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi confirmed Tuesday that all preparations are ready to hold the parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 10.
"There are only a few weeks left for the elections, and everything is ready for holding the early electoral process," said a statement by al-Kadhimi's media office during the weekly cabinet meeting.
Al-Kadhimi said that he is looking forward to broad and active participation and called on citizens to participate in the elections, stressing that the low voters' turnout in the previous elections led to many problems in the country's political process, according to the statement.
He said that the recent decision taken by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to reverse his previous decision to boycott the parliamentary elections is a positive step for elections, it said.
Al-Kadhimi also called on all other parties that boycotted the elections to change their ideas, it added.
Last week, al-Sadr decided to return to the elections, reversing his decision in July to withdraw from the elections, which he criticized at that time for teeming with "rampant corruption and unfair competition between political parties."
Al-Sadr's Sairoon Coalition, which includes al-Sadr's loyalists allied with some other political parties, became the largest group in the Iraqi parliament after the 2018 elections and is made up of lawmakers from central and southern Iraq.
Iraq is scheduled to hold early elections on Oct. 10, 2021 in response to the anti-government protests against corruption and lack of public services.
The previous parliamentary elections in Iraq were held on May 12, 2018, and the next elections were originally scheduled to take place in 2022. Enditem
