Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wave flags as they take part in a campaign rally ahead of the parliamentary election on Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, on May 4, 2018. The vote of parliamentary election will be held on May 12, as around 7,000 candidates will compete for the 329 seats in the Iraqi parliament. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
BAGHDAD, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Friday warned Iraqis of voting in the upcoming parliamentary elections for corrupt politicians who proved that they had failed in leading the country.
Sheikh Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalai, Sistani's representative relayed the comments of the most revered Shiite cleric during the weekly Friday prayer, which was aired live by Iraqi local TV channels from the holy Shiite city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad.
Sistani said that Iraqis should "avoid falling into the traps of those who had failed (in leading the country) and corrupted people, whether they have been already experienced or not."
According to Karbalai, the religious Shiite leadership, or "Marji'yah," insisted that it stands at "equal distance" from all candidates of all electoral lists, asserting that it is for the voter to decide for whom they would vote.
Sistani also called on Iraqis to scrutinize the biographies of the candidates and the leaders of their lists, and insisted that the "Marji'yah" would not allow any individual or party to use its name for electoral gains.
He confirmed that people should vote for those who are known of their "efficiency, integrity, respect of the rule of law, willingness to sacrifice for the sake of saving the homeland and serving citizens."
The vote of parliamentary election will be held on May 12, as around 7,000 candidates will compete for the 329 seats in the Iraqi parliament. This will be the first general election since Iraq's historical victory over the militant Islamic State group in December last year.
Iraq's previous general election was held on April 30, 2014, when the Iraqis elected 328 lawmakers for the parliament.
