ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A close associate of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday urged election boycotters to not leave their homes on the day of voting, instructing those “compelled” to go to the polling center to follow in the footsteps of security personnel who spoiled their ballots.

In a statement addressing individuals who choose not to participate in Tuesday’s Iraqi parliamentary elections, Saleh Muhammad al-Iraqi, a politician close to Sadr, told his supporters, “Do not leave your homes as much as possible except for extreme necessity.”

“Whoever is compelled to participate should do so as our heroic security forces have done,” he added, referencing circulating footage of Iraqi security forces who spoiled their ballots on Sunday’s early votes in support of the cleric.

Iraqi also urged boycotters to “be prepared for any general or specific directives, should they be given,” without further explanations to the content of the “directives.”

He further directed not to “obstruct” the process, “however flawed it may be.”

On Sunday, Sadr reiterated his call for boycotting the Iraqi parliamentary elections, calling for reform and arguing that previously elected candidates and parties “should not be tried again.”

Sadr and his National Shiite Movement party have withdrawn and boycotted all electoral processes in Iraq, despite emerging as the victors of Iraq’s 2021 parliamentary elections. The Shiite cleric accused the country’s parties and politicians of corruption and began routinely calling on residents not to participate in the parliamentary elections, arguing that it renders them complicit in the corruption.

Iraq is poised to hold parliamentary elections on Tuesday, where more than 7,750 candidates are competing for 329 parliamentary seats under a proportional representation system. The country held an early polling process on Sunday to allow security forces, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and detainees in certain facilities to cast their ballots.