Candidates Withdrawal of Iraq's Elections Raises Doubt over its Integrity

Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)
Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)
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Candidates Withdrawal of Iraq's Elections Raises Doubt over its Integrity

Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)
Protesters hold pictures of people who have been killed in anti-government protests during a demonstration calling for the government to resign, in Baghdad, Iraq, on November 29, 2020. (AP)

The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission said dozens of candidates decided to drop out of the country's parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10, raising doubts over the poll's credibility.

This came as hundreds of candidates had their candidacy withdrawn over their ties to the Baath party.

The Commission's spokesman, Hasan Salman, said the withdrawal requests are under review, noting that some might be rejected.

According to Salman, the electoral commission was not concerned if the decisions to drop out were personal choices or came under pressure, but rather cares if the candidates's requests met certain criteria.

Notably, the UN Security Council unanimously approved an Iraqi request for a UN team to monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections.

In 2019, tens of thousands of Iraqi protesters took to the streets against a government seen by demonstrators as corrupt, during which nearly 600 people have died.

The deaths sparked outrage across the country and prompted the resignation of then-premier Adel Abdel Mahdi.



Ambulances Can’t Operate in Northern Gaza Strip, Health Ministry Says

A Palestinian man sits on the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man sits on the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Ambulances Can’t Operate in Northern Gaza Strip, Health Ministry Says

A Palestinian man sits on the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man sits on the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 4, 2024. (Reuters)

The Gaza Health Ministry said ambulances are no longer operating in the north of the enclave, where Israel has been waging a renewed offensive for nearly a month.

Eyad Zaqout, a senior ministry official, told reporters Monday that “a large number of injured people are bleeding on the roads.”

The ministry also said in a statement that Israeli forces continue to bombard Kamal Adwan Hospital with strikes on Monday, injuring some staff and patients.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run government, said last week that they were no longer able to operate in the north because crews had been fired upon by Israeli forces.

Israel launched its latest offensive in northern Gaza in early October, focusing on Jabalia, a densely populated, decades-old urban refugee camp where it says Hamas had regrouped. It has also carried out strikes in nearby Beit Lahia.

Israel has ordered the entire population in northern Gaza to evacuate, and tens of thousands have fled to Gaza City in recent weeks.

The three hospitals serving the northern areas are barely functioning and have been largely cut off by the fighting. Israeli forces raided one of them, saying fighters were sheltering there, allegations denied by Palestinian officials.

Israel has also sharply reduced the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, even after a warning from the United States that it could jeopardize American military support.