Iraq president welcomes PM Kadhimi’s call for early elections

President Barham Salih welcomes a call by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi for Iraq to hold early elections next year as a means of meeting a key demand of the protesters seeking economic reforms.

Kadhimi proposed on Friday that the general elections be pushed forward by almost a year and held on June 6, 2021.

Salih praised the decision, calling “free and fair” early elections one of the necessary requirements of political reform and a national right.

The United Nations also praised the premier's announcement, saying it would promote "greater stability and democracy."

Salih added that Iraq could not keep withstanding the political crisis that it has for the past several years.

“Resolution of the crisis entails a courageous national decision” that materializes in the form of holding the elections, he added.

SS