Nineteen million people were eligible to vote yesterday for 6200 candidates nationwide with 325 parliamentary seats at stake. Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission says 62% turned out nationwide, despite rocket and mortar attacks that killed 38 people in Baghdad: 61% in the Sunni province of Anbar and 80% of the Kurds. It'll be days until the results are in and probably months until a new government can formed. But already there's talk of the impact on US withdrawal. Will a new leader be able to maintain democracy? Will there be a dictatorship or an attempted coup? Will Iran gain even more influence as the US pulls away?
The Iraqi People Have Voted Again: What's Next?
Credits
Guests:
- Leila Fadel - Washington Post - @LeilaFadel
- Judith Yaphe - Middle East Project Director, National Defense University
- Joost Hiltermann - Middle East Deputy Program Director, International Crisis Group
- Michael Rubin - American Enterprise Institute - @mrubin1971
- Abbas Kadhim - Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs, Naval Postgraduate School