BAGHDAD, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Iraqis were voting on Sunday in a general election that many said they would boycott, having lost faith in the democratic system brought in by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

The election is being held several months early under a new law designed to help independent candidates – a response to mass anti-government protests two years ago. But the established, armed and Shi’ite Islamist-dominated ruling elite is expected to sweep the vote.

The result will not dramatically alter the balance of power in the country or the wider Middle East, say Iraqi officials, foreign diplomats and analysts.

Nonetheless, some Iraqis were keen to vote in the election – the country’s fifth parliamentary vote since 2003 – and are hopeful of change. In the northern city of Kirkuk, Abu Abdullah said he showed up to vote an hour before polling stations opened.

“I came since early morning to be the first voter to participate in an event that will hopefully bring change,” he said. “We expect the situation to improve significantly.”

At least 167 parties and more than 3,200 candidates are competing for 329 seats in parliament, according to the election commission. Iraqi elections are often followed by months of protracted negotiations over a president, a prime minister and a cabinet.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, widely viewed as Western-friendly, told reporters as he cast his ballot: “I call on Iraq people: there’s still time. Go out and vote for Iraq and vote for your future.”

Kadhimi’s government called the vote early in response to anti-establishment protests in 2019 that toppled the previous administration.

Protesters’ demands included the removal of a ruling elite most Iraqis view as corrupt and keeping the country in disrepair. The demonstrations were brutally suppressed and some 600 people were killed over several months.

Iraq is safer than it has been for years and violent sectarianism is less of a feature than ever since Iraq vanquished the Sunni extremist Islamic State in 2017 with the help of an international military coalition and Iran.

But endemic corruption and mismanagement has meant many people in the country of about 40 million are without work, and lack healthcare, education and electricity.

FOREIGN INFLUENCE

The United States, Gulf Arab countries and Israel on one side and Iran on the other compete for influence in Iraq, which has provided a gateway for Tehran to support militia proxies in Syria and Lebanon.

The 2003 invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, and catapulted to power the country’s majority Shi’ites and the Kurds, who were oppressed under Saddam. It unleashed years of sectarian violence, including the takeover of a third of the country by Islamic State between 2014 and 2017.

Washington is removing all U.S. combat troops as part of an agreement with the Iraqi government, although the move keeps most of its 2,500 troops in the country in non-combat roles, according to U.S. officials.

That decision came under pressure from Iraq’s dominant Shi’ite parties, many of them backed by Iran, which called for the removal of U.S. forces after the U.S. killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.

The populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who opposes all foreign influence and is a rival of the Iran-aligned Shi’ite groups, is expected to come first in the election. He has also called for foreign troops to withdraw.

Power cuts delayed polls opening by a few minutes at two stations in Karbala and Anbar provinces. In the oil province of Basra, the opening of some polling stations was delayed by more than half an hour due to technical problems with voting devices.

The biggest Shi’ite blocs in the election are those of Sadr and a separate coalition of Iran-aligned parties with armed wings. Kurds have two main parties that rule the autonomous Kurdistan region, and Sunnis this time have two main blocs.

Once results are ratified, President Barham Salih has 15 days to task parliament with convening to choose a speaker. Parliament must then also choose a president within 30 days.

The largest bloc in parliament then names a prime minister to form a government. The whole process can take months to complete.

Additional reporting by Mustafa Mahmoud in Kirkuk and Aref Mohammed in Basra
Editing by William Mallard and Frances Kerry

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