Iraqi youths form political parties to join early elections
Groups of young people set up political parties as they seek to take part in early elections next year, in an attempt to present themselves as an alternative to the existing parties.
In the past eight months, groups of Iraqi young people formed various political entities. A source within the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) told Al-Monitor that 15 new political entities are in the process of registering with IHEC.
Rahman al-Jubouri, a senior researcher at the Regional Center of the American University of Iraq, told Al-Monitor that 15 groups have submitted applications seeking to register with IHEC.
These groups are made up of Iraqi civil society activists and other activists in the recent protests who seek to run in the early elections that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called for June 6, 2021.
Iraqi population is a very young one, 56% of Iraqis are under 24; and 19.83% are between the ages of 15-24. Official Iraqi unemployment is 12.8% according to World Bank (pre-COVID), likely higher, especially among youth.
