Iraqi Haidar al-Abadi Rejects Repeat Polls, Says it Time to 'Move Forward'

Published June 13th, 2018 - 07:36 GMT
Iraqi Haidar al-Abadi rejects to repeat polls, urges formation of govt. (AFP/ File)
Iraqi Haidar al-Abadi rejects to repeat polls, urges formation of govt. (AFP/ File)

Iraq’s prime minister on Tuesday rejected calls for a do-over of last month’s elections, adding that a new government should be established as soon as possible.

“The elections were held, there’s no turning back,” said Haidar al-Abadi. “We have to move forward in order to form a new government.”

Citing the weekend fire in Baghdad’s largest warehouse for ballot boxes, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri and Iyad Allawi, the leader of Iraq’s al-Wataniye coalition, have called on the government to cancel the election results and hold new polls.

“Preliminary investigations prove last week’s fire was an intentional arson attack,” al-Abadi said. Four suspects were taken into custody Monday over the fire.

This article has been adapted from its original source.