IRAQ
Parliamentary Chamber: Majlis Watani

ELECTIONS HELD IN 2000

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Chamber:
  Majlis Watani


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  27 March 2000


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for 220 of the 250 seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. The remaining 30 deputies were appointed by the government to represent the northern Kurdish areas which ceased to be under Baghdad's central authority after the Gulf war.


Background and outcome of elections:

  The 27 March 2000 parliamentary elections were the second elections since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

Some 522 candidates (25 of them women) were competing for 220 seats in the 250-member National Assembly. All the candidates were either members of the Baath Party or nominal independents loyal to it.

The poll was seen as a demonstration of solidarity with President Saddam Hussein in his confrontation with the West over the ongoing embargo. During the campaign, restrictions were imposed on discussion of the UN Security Council sanctions against the country and of the state of the economy. Rallies and election manifestos were banned and candidates had very limited access to the media.

Final results showed that the ruling Baath Party had won 165 seats and a further 55 were won by independent candidates. 30 more deputies were appointed by the government to represent the Kurdish areas of Sulay-maniyah, Arbil and Dohuk in the north, where no elections took place. These three Kurdish provinces ceased to be under Baghdad's central authority after the Gulf War. Of the 25 women contestants, 19 became MPs.

Uday Hussein, the oldest son of the Iraqi president, who was making his formal political debut, was elected to the new Assembly with the highest number of votes.

On 9 April Mr Saadoun Hammadi was unanimously re-elected as speaker of the National Assembly.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (27 March 2000): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 9 200 000

Round no 1: Distribution of votes  
Political Group %
Baath Arab Socialist Party 66.00
Independents n.a.

Round no 1: Distribution of seats  
Political Group Total
Baath Arab Socialist Party 165
Independents 55

Comments:
  The 30 parliamentarians for the three Kurdish provinces will be appointed according to a presidential decree.

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 212
Women: 18
Percent of women: 7.20


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Copyright © 2000 Inter-Parliamentary Union