Dead candidate wins parliamentary elections in Iraq
Iskandar obtained 2,397 votes and won one seat allocated for Christian community
Dubai: An Iraqi female candidate, who died in August has won a seat in Baghdad’s parliament elections, local media reported.
Ansam Manuel Iskandar got 2,397 votes in last week's elections and bagged one of the five seats allocated for the country’s Christian community under the quota system.
Many social media users were angry and questioned the authorities as to how a dead woman's name remained on the ballot paper. In a Facebook post published on her page by her family, they confirmed that “she died on 24 August, after being infected with the Coronavirus.”
The Iraq’s elections held on Sunday — which had a record low voter turnout at 41 per cent — saw the party of Iraqi Shiite cleric, Moqtada Al Sadr, lead and win most seats, followed by the Taqaddoum (progress) bloc of the Parliament Speaker, Mohamed Al Halbousi, in second place and the State of Law bloc led by former Prime Minister, Nouri Al Maliki, coming third.