Iraqi elections campaign kicks off

Iraqi voters will be going to polls on May 12 what many commentators indicate will be a turning point parliamentary elections.

Iraqi voters will be going to polls on May 12 what many commentators indicate will be a turning point parliamentary elections.

The election campaign kicked off on Saturday and was marked by protests as candidates’ posters replaced posters of those who died in the fight against DAESH.

The Iraqi military had declared they defeated the Islamic State last December, but violence in the country is everything but over. Furthermore people claim politicians to be doing their own interests rather than the people's. And this is something that will be reflected in the polls. Already, some of the thoughts and comments have been written in the posters showing the face of candidates: thieves, corrupt, fraud... were the messages left on the newly put up posters.

The Parliament officially ends is term on April 30. But in March there have been only 5 sessions, while so far, no session has been called. Internal rules state the parliament should session some 8 times a month. Indeed, dozens of sessions have gone by marked by absenteeism and lack of quorum.

Looking at figures the official parliament website shows that some 165 laws have been passed while 108 have not been approved over the last four years. Many of these approved laws though had little or no impact on people's lives and this is what Iraqis citizens most accused current politicians of: not working to improve people's life.

There are 325 parliament seats to fill, and parties are getting ready to contest these elections.