Iraqi elections postponed to October

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s government announced on 19 January it was pushing back the planned date for elections to the Council of Representatives (parliament) to 10 October. Al-Kadhimi had previously called for the election to be held on 6 June, a year earlier than required. Early elections were a key demand of those involved in protests which began in October 2019 and have continued sporadically since.