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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi electoral commission responded to an ISIS threat to attack polling stations by saying they will not be deterred from holding elections. The commission expects turnout will increase.
"We are not the forces of either the Interior Ministry or the Defense Ministry. This is a state of institutions. We as the commission have finalized the preparations and our response is – we will hold the Iraqi parliamentary elections,” Rizgar Hama Mihaddin, deputy head of the Iraqi electoral commission, told Rudaw.
He was responding to threats to the election made by ISIS a day earlier.
ISIS spokesperson Abu Hassan al-Muhajir released a voice recording on Sunday threatening voters and candidates in the upcoming Iraqi elections, saying they are both targets. The group threatened to attack polling stations.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS last December. Though the group no longer controls the territory it did at the height of its power, it remains a serious security threat, especially in parts of Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Saladin provinces.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition has confidence in the ability of the Iraqi security forces to combat the group.
“Iraqi Security Forces have shown that they are very capable and willing and have the skill to defeat ISIS and then also to keep them from resurging,” coalition spokesperson Col. Ryan Dillon to Rudaw TV on Sunday.
Security for the elections is a top priority for the forces, he explained.
“Our Iraqi security force partners recognize the importance and how critical security is leading up to the elections and so they’re concerns are the coalition’s concerns and we’re going to make sure we support them all the way through to a successful and safe and secure election.”
The electoral commission’s Mihaddin does not believe that threats will deter voters from casting ballots.
"I am sure turnout will be at a very good level and will be higher than 2014,” he predicted.
Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on May 12.
"We are not the forces of either the Interior Ministry or the Defense Ministry. This is a state of institutions. We as the commission have finalized the preparations and our response is – we will hold the Iraqi parliamentary elections,” Rizgar Hama Mihaddin, deputy head of the Iraqi electoral commission, told Rudaw.
He was responding to threats to the election made by ISIS a day earlier.
ISIS spokesperson Abu Hassan al-Muhajir released a voice recording on Sunday threatening voters and candidates in the upcoming Iraqi elections, saying they are both targets. The group threatened to attack polling stations.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS last December. Though the group no longer controls the territory it did at the height of its power, it remains a serious security threat, especially in parts of Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, and Saladin provinces.
The US-led anti-ISIS coalition has confidence in the ability of the Iraqi security forces to combat the group.
“Iraqi Security Forces have shown that they are very capable and willing and have the skill to defeat ISIS and then also to keep them from resurging,” coalition spokesperson Col. Ryan Dillon to Rudaw TV on Sunday.
Security for the elections is a top priority for the forces, he explained.
“Our Iraqi security force partners recognize the importance and how critical security is leading up to the elections and so they’re concerns are the coalition’s concerns and we’re going to make sure we support them all the way through to a successful and safe and secure election.”
The electoral commission’s Mihaddin does not believe that threats will deter voters from casting ballots.
"I am sure turnout will be at a very good level and will be higher than 2014,” he predicted.
Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on May 12.
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