Iraqi PM confident his coalition will win local elections

Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki came under fire earlier this month for postponing elections Baghdad – Jaafar Al Nasrawi Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced that his Rule of Law coalition is likely to win the upcoming local elections scheduled to take place in September. The Rule of Law Coalition comprises of 20 parties and political movement, including the Badr Organisation, the Islamic Dawah Party, and the Islamic Virtue Party.
"The Rule of Law will win the political majority in all provincial councils,” al-Maliki told coalition candidates at a ceremony on Saturday.
The prime minister faced criticism earlier this month, for postponing local elections by six months in the aftermath of more than 14 simultaneous bombings in Baghdad on March 19, which killed more than 50 people and injured over 200.
At the time, the head of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, Osama Najafi, condemned the move, saying he had “no right” to make that decision.
However, al-Maliki defended his decision, saying the country is still “in turmoil” over the attacks and needs time to recover.
Referring to the coalition’s slogan, “Strength and Development”, al-Maliki said it was the group’s objective to “protect Iraq’s unity and shield the country from sectarianism, terrorism, and murder; to achieve justice and to conduct ourselves on the foundation of national identity and the constitution."
"Although it has been difficult to achieve, we have abided by our objective," said the PM.
Addressing opponents of the coalition, al-Maliki urged critics to “assimilate into the stability process", adding "there will be no development without stability, which is built on the assimilation of the public."
The PM also warned against terrorism and "spiteful" calls for sectarianism, saying "differences and withdrawals will feed those who do not wish Iraq to rise and enable them to tint their black fingers with our red blood.”
The news comes as many of the country’s Sunni organisations, seen as dominant during Saddam’s regime, have said they feel persecuted by the al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government.
Since the last election in 2010, Prime Minister Maliki's Sunni and Kurdish critics have accused him of consolidating his own authority, by abusing his control of security forces to actively pursue Sunni politicians.
As a result, mass protests and sectarian violence has been widespread throughout the country in recent months.
"The voices of vengeance will not take over Iraq because Iraq has recovered its strength both nationally and in terms of foreign relations," said al-Maliki.
"We have faced many major challenges alongside our political partners and continue to face challenges in central government and local governments," he added.