Elections pushed back to Dec 22 per election commission

by Chaka Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:08 pm


IHEC puts off provincial elections to year's end

BAGHDAD, July 20 (VOI) - A member of the Iraqi electoral commission on Sunday announced postponing provincial the elections until the end of the year rather than their schedule date in October.
"The elections were put off until December 22, whether the provincial councils law is endorsed by the Parliament or not," Hamdiya al-Husseini, a member of the Iraqi high electoral commission (IHEC), told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
U.S. officials have described the provincial elections as one of several benchmarks, along with the reduction of violence in Baghdad and approval of a hydrocarbon resource sharing law, by which they are assessing the progress of Iraq's national government.
Many U.S. officials and Iraqi leaders say new provincial elections would produce a political balance, ease resentment of disenfranchised factions, and help stabilize security.
The electoral official noted, "the electoral commission discussed the issue withe the UN assistance team," adding "it made this decision in order to run fair and transparent elections that comply with international standards."
The Iraqi Parliament has been a scene of heated debates on the provincial elections law this week and has not yet legislated any law that determines the shape of the state.
The provincial council law specifies the system of government in Iraq, and if applied, a federal system may be established in the country.
The draft law on provincial council elections proposes an open slate system, which gives voters influence on the position of the candidates placed on the party list and allows an individual voting system.
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?id=2047&IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=86460&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

by Joel57 Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:40 pm

Sigh, why not? They've managed to postpone everything else...

by Hermes Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:14 am

Postpone, postpone, postpone ... where have I heard that word before?

Iraqi election official rules out local polls
Politics 9/27/2008 2:59:00 PM

By Mohamed al-Ghazi BAGHDAD, Sept 27

(KUNA) -- It is very difficult for Iraq to hold local elections this year, the election watchdog chairman said here Saturday.

"It is not possible to hold elections this year," Faraj al-Haidari told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), predicting that local polls could be conducted at the advent of next year.

The election law, which has recently been given the thumbs up at parliament, still needs to be approved by the president of the republic and then taken back to the parliament before being published on the official gazette, he said.

Al-Haidari's remarks came after Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said his party would press for holding provincial polls ahead of the end of this year.

Al-Hashemi considered the parliamentary approval of the election bill as the "beginning of a solution" to the political cul-de-sac in the country.

Local elections are hoped to produce provincial councils that will enjoy much competence and power as per the provincial law that was passed by the parliament last year.
As per the law, the election watchdog is required to set a date for the local election ahead of January 31st, 2009.

The Iraqi parliament okayed the provincial election law on September 24 in a very significant step.

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1940627&Language=en

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Elections pushed back to Dec 22 per election commission

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