ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) dismissed Thursday rumors that the body will reopen the application for party lists and coalitions to field candidacy for the November parliamentary elections.

“There is no probability of reopening the window for receiving lists of candidates, parties, and coalitions, because the Commissioners Council set June 26 as the final date for this process,” Jumana al-Ghalai, the IHEC spokesperson, told The New Region.

Ghalai reiterated that they will not extend the deadline.

The rumors grew after influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr visited top Shiite religious authority Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani at his residence in Najaf on Tuesday. Sadr was alleged to have changed his mind about participating in the elections, and thus, the commissions would reopen the application to give the Shiite cleric a chance to submit the list of their party and candidates.

Sadr, who leads the National Shiite Movement, previously announced his withdrawal from the elections in March. At the time, he called the vote a “crippled electoral process” and said Iraq was “taking its last breaths” under foreign influence and the grip of entrenched powers.

Despite the boycott announcement, Sadr later instructed his supporters to update their voter registration information, even if they did not plan to vote.

Sadr is one of the most prominent figures to have previously announced a boycott of the elections. Sadr’s withdrawal from politics in 2022 paved the way for the Coordination Framework to form a government and appoint Sudani as prime minister.

The IHEC began accepting nominations on May 25 for both open lists and individual candidates. The original deadline was June 24, but the commission extended the deadline until the end of working hours on June 26.

Iraq is set to hold national elections in November. Around 8,000 candidates are registered to vie for 329 seats in the Iraqi House of Representatives. According to the commission, nearly 30 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, including more than one million who will vote for the first time.