Iraqis vote in a parliamentary election marked by tight security and a political boycott

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00:00Iraqis went to the polls on Tuesday in what is the country's sixth parliamentary election

00:05since a 2003 U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.

00:10Voters will elect 329 members of the Council of Representatives.

00:16The 2025 Iraqi parliamentary elections began at 7 this morning.

00:21Everything is going well and voting is proceeding, as you can see.

00:24We hope that in the coming hours, all Iraqi people will head to the ballot box and cast their votes.

00:34The parliament determines who fills the top posts in government,

00:37which are divided along confessional and ethnic lines.

00:41The designated speaker is Sunni.

00:42The head of the state, who is elected by two-thirds of the assembly, is Kurdish.

00:46The largest Shiite group in parliament gets to designate one of its own as prime minister.

00:51Twenty-five percent of the seats must go to women, while nine are set aside for ethnic minorities.

00:57Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani cast his vote on Tuesday morning

01:01and hailed the continuation of a two-decade-old democratic process.

01:06I extend my congratulations to the resilient and courageous Iraqi people

01:10who have made great sacrifices to ensure that power and decision-making remain in the hands of the people.

01:17But elections in Iraq have been increasingly dogged by low turnouts, dropping to 41 percent in 2021,

01:28as Iraqis have got disillusioned with the system that they see as corrupt and inefficient.

01:33A boycott led by populist Shiite cleric Maqtader al-Sadr is likely to bring turnout even lower.

01:40Al-Sadr was incensed by a rival Shiite group blocking him from forming a government in 2021,

01:46despite having the most seats.

01:48He has ordered his followers to stay at home.

01:51The new government will also have to strike a delicate balance between Washington and Iran,

01:56which continues to have a strong influence in the country.

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