Iraq to Hold Parliamentary Elections in June 2021: PM
"June 6, 2021, has been fixed as the date for the next legislative elections," said Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi, who took the reins in May after months of protests forced his predecessor to resign.
"Everything will be done to protect and ensure the success of these polls," Kadhemi said in a televised speech.
Elections in Iraq are sometimes marred by violence.
The next parliamentary elections had originally been due to take place in May 2022.
But months of protests began in October, with thousands taking to the streets of Baghdad and across the south.
Demonstrators demanded that the political system be dismantled, pointing to endemic corruption.
Kadhemi was nominated in April, months after Adel Abdel Mahdi stepped down -- the first time a premier has resigned before the end of his term since the US-led invasion of 2003.
Kadhemi's government Thursday said a total of 560 people had died in protests since October.
Nearly all were demonstrators killed at the hands of the security forces, according to an adviser to the premier.
Abdel Mahdi's government proposed to parliament a new electoral law that was quickly passed late last year.
But the section detailing voting procedures and constituency boundaries has not been finalized, according to diplomats and experts.
It was not clear what role Iraq's election commission -- regularly accused of bias -- would have in organizing the polls.
The United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) welcomed Kadhemi's announcement.
"Early elections fulfil a key popular demand on the road to greater stability and democracy in Iraq," it said in a statement, AFP reported.
"The United Nations is ready to provide support and technical advice as requested by Iraq to ensure free, fair and credible elections that win the public's trust."
The 2018 election was marred by a record low turnout of 44.5 percent, according to official figures.
