This post was written by Guest Author, Jabbar Jaafar, who is President of Voices of Iraq, and a long time commentator on Iraqi politics.
Any observer of Iraq's political landscape might ask why there was such a rush to hold elections in November 2025 by the heads of the (ruling) political blocs and their political and non-political supporters? Why did the ruling elites resort to all manner of devious means to obtain the most votes? Why do heads of the political blocs nominate candidates who have nothing to do with politics and no skills to hold public office?
I doubt that the Machiavellian principle of the end justifies the means has been applied in any other election in the world as it is now in Iraq. Every legitimate and illegitimate means have been used, such as bribery and favoritism, intimidation and enticement, fraud, the misappropriation of religion, and lies, to win the elections and control parliament. The winner, hungry for money, can enjoy whatever he desires, because the opportunities are available to those who abandon their conscience outside the parliament building and enter it to pursue their personal and partisan interests. As for the voters who put the parties' members in office, they will reap nothing but promises. The nation is the biggest loser!
There are two categories of candidates. One category follows the proper methods stipulated in the regulations in force during the election period, promoting their electoral programs using simple methods. These candidates rely on their own resources and is far removed from the political capital employed by the ruling parties. This category is considered a minority compared to the other, which represent most candidates from political parties that have dominated the political scene since 2005. An example of this category is the civil and liberal parties that have joined the Civil Democratic Alliance.
As for the second category, most of its candidates lack clear political portfolios or visions. When you ask them about their election agenda, they begin talking about themselves and their diplomas, most of which are not accredited by reputable academic institutions. The goal of these candidates is to secure job opportunities that open doors to profiteering and quick enrichment, nothing more.
To achieve this end, the major political forces have not hesitated to resort to devious methods in seeking to achieve their goals at any cost, without regard for their constituents, the environment, their community, or the potential harm this could cause the country.
In fact, these types of candidates —and, before them, a large percentage of current representatives who belong to the ruling parties —behave according to the Machiavellian principle adopted by Niccolo Machiavelli, the sixteenth-century Italian thinker, philosopher, and politician. Machiavelli laid the foundation for the rule applied by many corrupt and tyrannical leaders who do not care about their people's interests, namely that the end justifies the means.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, this principle means employing cunning and duplicity (deception) for political efficiency or behavior. Focusing solely on one's own goals and interests is always considered them more important than the goals and interests of others. Prioritizing success, power, status, money, and fame are valued above all else. This means manipulating or exploiting others for personal gain, without any reservations about deceiving them or lying to them.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines Machiavellianism as the use of clever, but often dishonest, methods to deceive people in order to gain or control power. Regarding religion, Machiavelli believed that religion is necessary for government not to serve virtue, but to enable the government to control the people through making their rule appear more legitimate.
In the days leading up to elections, the heads of electoral blocs begin debating and delivering bombastic speeches to deceive voters and entice them with election promises that are far from electoral platforms and have not achieved anything significant that could bring about tangible change in the lives of Iraqi citizens.
From Iraq's first post-Ba'th Party elections in 2005 until now, the average citizen, living on a monthly salary and not implicated in corruption, dreams of obtaining suitable housing, despite the hundreds of residential complexes that suffocate Baghdad and several governorates, named euphemistically as "citizen housing." The average Iraqi citizen has received no benefit from this new housing except a look at them with a sigh of longing, because their prices are exorbitant and no one can afford the purchase price.
It is unimaginable to see a people with a cultural heritage as vast as the Iraqi people who are, unfortunately, exploited by a group of ignorant, professional thieves. In every election cycle, they bring in candidates who understand nothing about politics. If you asked one of them to give you a useful sentence, you would find them incapable of answering.
One candidate appeared on a television program and said to a crowd of his supporters, "I entered politics for your sake." I expected him to elaborate and explain to the viewers and the audience who anticipated some additional explanation of what he had accomplished, but he added nothing beyond this phrase. The man was devoid of anything resembling general or political culture, but from his conversation, his pockets were full, like the thugs who surfaced after 2003. A candidate holding an important position in the Communications and Media Commission, speaking in an interview, was unable to even clearly define the meaning of politics.
When asked about the number of parliament members, another candidate didn't know it was 329, and offered a different number. Yet another was asked by a reporter how many seats were allocated to the Baghdad Governorate, and she replied, "7,000 seats or something." When the reporter expressed his astonishment at her ignorance of the number of seats she was competing for —71 —she admitted she didn't know but said she had come to fight corruption. "I don't know how she'll fight corruption, when she lacks basic knowledge about the election process!
Another candidate, who wrote on his campaign banner that he was an "expert in tribal settlements," believes that parliament is a court for resolving tribal disputes. There are many examples that would require more than one article. As for why do the heads of political blocs bring in these types of candidates who understand neither politics nor anything else, and have no clear position? The answer is that they are willing to be subservient to the bloc leader. They say "yes" to everything asked of them and will not argue with or object to any draft law adopted by the bloc, even if it doesn't serve the majority or may conflict with the national interest.
According to media and social media reports, the price of a voter card ranges from 700,000 to 1 million Iraqi dinars. Some say it could even involve distributing foreign luxury cars, such as the Tahoe, Yukon, and Lexus. According to a speaker on a political program, this is intended to bribe voters, which I understand to be an attempt to manipulate the results obtained by a candidate or bloc.
This is not just hearsay; it is a reality. The head of a major political bloc appeared to criticize those who pay to buy votes, setting the amount at between 250,000 and 300,000 Iraqi dinars. He criticized this shameful phenomenon and called on the government and the Integrity and Elections Commission to address it and hold those involved accountable!
As for the cost of obtaining a parliamentary seat, it ranges from 750 million to 1.5 billion. Iraqi dinars. Currently, according to one politician, the cost of an electoral seat has reached 5 billion Iraqi dinars, and obtaining 10 seats would cost 50 billion Iraqi dinars. The question, however, is: what will the head of the political bloc gain for this sum?
A successful candidate will certainly gain greater benefits, power, and influence. He potentially gains control over political decisions, the power to appoint to important positions such as ministries affiliated with him, access to government contracts worth millions of dollars in those ministries, influence laws and budgets, and opportunities for personal or financial gain. He can also impose his political agenda and control the course of parliamentary legislation.
In another position that reinforces my argument that the ruling parties apply the Machiavellian principle that the ends justify the means, in 2019, the ruling parties yielded to the demands of the October uprising protesters and amended the electoral law, adopting the multi-district formula for the Iraqi elections. Under this law, Iraq is divided into multiple electoral districts, with each district allocated a specific number of seats in the House of Representatives.
Representatives within each district are elected using a voting system based on individual preference votes. This system allows voters to vote for a specific candidate within a specific electoral list, rather than voting for the list alone, and seats are distributed according to the results of each district. This law allowed several independent figures and some candidates from small parties to reach parliament.
When the ruling parties realized that this law was not in their interest, as they sought absolute dominance over parliament to advance their agendas, they worked to amend the election law in March 2023. This amendment reverted to the modified Sainte-Laguë Method based on an electoral quotient of 1.9, which would return Iraq to a single electoral district system for each governorate and abolish the established multi-district formula. This law represents a return to the 2018 law, which was rejected by the massive protest movement that swept the country on October1, 2019.
The bottom line: If elections are a large bazaar in which major parties defraud Iraqi voters through various means that contradict the concept of patriotism and are far removed from legitimate democratic practices, how can they ask citizens to go to the ballot boxes to vote for candidates who have fabricated everything in order to defraud them and win their votes?! These devious practices have encouraged capitalists, merchants, investors, company owners, and businessmen to participate in elections to benefit from parliamentary immunity and secure major contracts and investment opportunities.
Elections are a fundamental element of democracy, enabling citizens to exercise their right to influence government decisions by electing their representatives to local and national legislatures. Only free and fair elections ensure citizen participation in political life and help elect qualified candidates to the legislative authority, which drafts laws, monitors the executive branch's actions, and approves the state's general policy and budget. Furthermore,
legislative authority, represented by parliament, plays a vital role in achieving stability, promoting political dialogue, preventing conflict, and facilitating reconciliation and peace.
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