Earlier this month, Iraqi journalist Muntadher al-Zaidi – who shot to prominence in 2008 when he hurled a shoe at George W Bush and called the former US president “a dog” – announced his candidacy for the May 12 parliamentary elections.
“I want to lock up all the thieves who’ve robbed Iraq of its wealth,” he told Al Jazeera, explaining that he plans to pass a law that would see “corrupt politicians held to account”.
The nomination of Zaidi with the Sairoon Coalition – an alliance between the Sadirst Movement and the Iraqi Communist Party – was celebrated by his supporters. But it was not received with the same level of enthusiasm among the wider Iraqi public as his “farewell kiss [to Bush] from the Iraqi people” 10 years ago.
The Sairoon Coalition led by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is one of the five main Shia factions running in the election for a new parliament.
While many parties have taken the opportunity to emphasise a unified, cross-sectarian national identity in the run-up to the vote, Iraq remains plagued by divisions along sectarian and ethnic lines.
With a large number of Iraqi journalists contesting the upcoming elections, the first since the defeat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL also known as ISIS), observers fear that the lines between independent journalism and politics in Iraq are becoming increasingly blurred.
According to Iraq’s High Electoral Commission, there has been a record number of journalists and media personalities entering the electoral fray.
“We don’t know the exact number for journalists running in the election, but they are definitely in the tens. The numbers are visibly larger than in previous votes, said Hazem Al-Radinee, a member of the high board of electoral commissioners.
