SHAFAQNA- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations has announced the mechanism for the participation of this organization and the Security Council in the upcoming elections in Iraq.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, at a press conference of the Special Commission for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq, talked about the mechanism for the participation of the United Nations and the Security Council in the elections.
“The Iraqi government has submitted a request to the UN Security Council to protect the integrity of the elections, but the Security Council has not made any decision on its participation in the Iraqi elections, so we are waiting,” she said while stating that many Iraqis want UN to take part in the election process.
Plasschaert added: “The protection of the health of the elections is done in different ways and the United Nations will monitor the upcoming elections in this regard, because monitoring is the cornerstone of the international community’s presence in the elections.”
The UN envoy to Iraq said that the election process is being monitored in many countries with the aim of protecting the integrity of the elections and removing the role of weapons and money.
She stressed that the election process is led by Iraq and that the United Nations cannot play the role of commissioner. The international community has nothing to do with this election. The role of the United Nations so far is to provide technical assistance to the Electoral Commission, which is working and struggling despite many challenges, and we thank it.
The head of the Iraqi High Electoral Commission, Jalil Adnan Khalaf, also announced the distribution of 12 million election cards, noting that more than 14 million citizens had registered their election data.
“Iraq is on the eve of an election that is unique in the history of this country and Iraq is divided into 83 constituencies. The new electoral system is different from the previous one, and the division of zones may be easier for the commission to work on,” he told a news conference.
He added: “The commission has taken action to prepare a timetable for the progress of technical and logistical measures with the participation of the UN Office. The registration period for political coalitions wishing to run in the elections has been extended.”
Khalaf announced that the number of cards distributed was 12 million, which shows that 14 million 869 thousand voters have registered.
The head of the Iraqi High Electoral Commission stated that 52 embassies and 19 international organizations had expressed their desire to monitor the parliamentary elections in Iraq.
This news is originally published by Shafaqna Persian and translated by Shafaqna English