ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Six Iraqi lawmakers have sued Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on allegations of abusing his position to further his party's votes in an upcoming election, documents seen by The New Region show.

The legislators, namely Youssef Ba'ir al-Kalabi, Yasser Hashim al-Husseini, Faleh al-Khazali, Alaa Sabah al-Haidari, Haitham Abdul-Jabbar al-Fahd, and Mohammed Nouri Aziz, filed a complaint against the premier with the Public Prosecution Office on October 16, according to the documents.

The lawmakers accused him of "a series of legal, administrative, and financial violations that undermine the good conduct stipulated in Article 7 of the Law on Elections for the House of Representatives and Provincial and District Councils."

Iraq’s federal parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 11. Campaigning for the vote began on October 10, with over 7,750 candidates competing for the 329 seats allocated across the provinces under a proportional representation system. 

Sudani is heading his own coalition for the upcoming vote—the Reconstruction and Development Alliance.

The file acquired by The New Region, published on October 19, reveals that the public prosecutor has referred the case to Baghdad's Second Karkh Investigation Court for legal action.

The complaint alleges that Sudani "exploited his position as Prime Minister for electoral purposes by granting a group of approvals and decisions regarding letters of thanks and appreciation and granting plots of land."

The lawmakers further accuse Sudani of threatening "the leaders of the political blocs and candidates and [blackmailing] them through the media until the blackmail reached the point of accusations of honor and dignity," while granting letters of approval to candidates enlisted in his own party, "numbering more than 400 candidates."

The document also accuses the prime minister of using over 180 billboards belonging to the government as part of his party's campaign, among other charges.

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in late September fined Sudani, along with former premier Nouri al-Maliki and several other top officials, two million dinars for violating election campaign regulations. 

The November vote will be held without any amendments to Iraq’s parliamentary election law—the Sainte-Lague system—which favors better-funded, established parties over independent candidates and smaller parties. 

On Saturday, the commission told The New Region that all technical, logistical, and administrative preparations have been completed for the elections, reiterating that the vote will be held as scheduled on November 11.