Iraqi local elections to be held next April: Parliament

By Muayad al-Tarfi

BAGHDAD

Iraq’s parliament on Monday voted in favor of holding local elections in conjunction with parliamentary polls slated for April of next year.

“A majority of MPs voted today to conduct local elections -- initially slated for September -- at the same time as next April’s parliamentary polls,” Abbas al-Bayati, an MP for Iraq’s Shia National Alliance bloc, told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Bayati, the decision was based on a proposal submitted earlier by parliament’s legal committee.

Before Monday’s decision, several Iraqi political parties had called to postpone scheduled local polls with a view to reducing high administrative costs associated with conducting elections.