Colored By Boycotts, 8,703 TPS For The 2025 Iraq Election Is Quiet Voters

JAKARTA - Iraq held a general election on Tuesday 11 November. The election to elect a candidate for Iraqi legislature took place under strict supervision by the security forces.

A total of 8,703 polling stations (TPS) throughout Iraq are open starting this morning ready to welcome residents to vote.

The 2025 Iraqi legislative election (pileg) was followed by voting for elements of the security forces and refugees living in refugee camps on Sunday last week.

AP reported that the number of voters visiting polling stations until Tuesday morning was very small. However, the preliminary results of the calculation are expected to remain announced tomorrow, Wednesday, November 12.

This is undeniablely triggered by the boycott of Muqtada Al-Sadr. The influential Shia cleric in Iraq won the highest number of seats in the 2021 Iraqi elections. However, he chose to resign after negotiations on the formation of a failed government, amid a stalemate with rival Shia parties. Since then, Sadr has boycotted the political system in Iraq.

At the entrance to Sadr City near Baghdad, which is the basis of Sadr sympathizers, the security forces increased their guard, in contrast to other areas in the Iraqi capital.

Iraqi federal special forces and police were deployed throughout the Sadr region, in armored vehicles andapprobes manned by fully armed soldiers stationed along the main road.

Also displayed was a large banner showing Al-Sadr wearing a military uniform and holding a gun, with the caption, "My people in Sadr City boycott."

While on the main road of Sadr City, all shops were closed, and the posters of Sadr loyalists who were killed lined up on the wall.

At one of the polling stations in Sadr City, which serves 3,300 voters, the Head of the polling station, Ahmed Al-Mousawi noted, the voter number was only recorded at less than 60 people.

"The Sadrist boycott has had a big impact," said Mousawi.

"In previous elections, there used to be long lines from the early hours of the morning, but today the difference is very dramatic," he continued.

Sabih Dakhel, a 54-year-old voter who came with his wife to the polling station, said the two had decided to vote in the hope that the official he passed could improve living conditions for the citizens of Sadr City.

"We can choose freely today, but Sadrist boycotts have greatly influenced participation. Sadr City feels almost like a regional quarantine because of Muqtada Al-Sadr's call to keep his followers at home," said Dakhel.

The results of the 2025 Iraqi elections are also vulnerable to lawsuits. Iraq's Chief Justice Council wrote in a statement published on the board's website that the election date set on Tuesday 11 November was unconstitutional, and noted that the vote was originally scheduled for November 24.