Home » International » UN envoy warns of precarious post-electoral situation in Iraq
United Nations, Nov 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the top UN envoy for Iraq, has warned against a precarious post-electoral situation in the country and called for early government formation.
“Plainly speaking, Iraq’s current outlook is precarious — to say the least. And in the absence of genuine reforms, the situation will not get any better. On the contrary (it will become),” she told the Security Council in a briefing via video link on Monday.
Last month’s elections were assessed as generally peaceful, well-run, featuring significant technical and procedural improvements, said Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq.
She also noted that the elections were hard-earned as they emerged from an unprecedented wave of country-wide demonstrations in 2019 that resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.
After the October elections, parties rejecting the electoral results began demonstrations and sit-ins, which escalated on November 5, with casualties reported in Baghdad. In the early hours of November 7, an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took place.
Hennis-Plasschaert said that she has witnessed a severe lack of trust between parties, between parties and institutions, between parties and authorities in recent weeks, in addition to the long-standing lack of public trust in both politicians and institutions.
“Now, that is not without risk, as mistrust often leads to escalation. Hence, our consistent calls for political dialogue to prevail. And again, any outstanding electoral concerns must only be dealt with through established legal channels, in accordance with the law. There is no point in using others as a scapegoat for electoral grievances,”…