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Baghdad: Iraq will hold provincial elections later this year on different days for security reasons and to prevent voter-rigging, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said on Sunday.
Political analysts say the elections will be the battleground for a fierce power struggle - especially among majority Shiites - that could redraw Iraq's political map.
Major players such as the movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada
Al Sadr and Sunni Arab tribal groups will be competing for the
first time and are expected to make gains at the expense of
those now in power.
The polls are due to be held on October 1, but it was not
immediately clear if that would remain the first day of voting.
"The government will hold the elections over different
times, not on one day, to guarantee the safety of voters and to
halt fraud," Al Maliki said in a statement after meeting the UN
special representative to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura.
"The government is resolved to provide the appropriate
atmosphere to hold the elections in a proper way and to
guarantee neutrality, away from anyone's interference."
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