Washington calls on Iraq to hold early elections – White House

The United States has called on Iraq’s government to stop using violence against protesters, reform its electoral system and hold early elections, the White House press secretary said.

The US joins the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq in calling on the Iraqi government “to halt the violence against protesters and fulfill President [Barham] Salih’s promise to pass electoral reform and hold early elections,” said a statement posted by the US embassy in Baghdad on Monday.

The protests that began on October 1 were initially focused on a lack of jobs and services but morphed into denunciation of the political elites and the sectarian power-sharing system of government introduced in 2003, Reuters said.