Electoral commission says internally displaced Iraqis will be able to vote in October election

Mustafa Shilani 2021/08/26 19:05

Iraqi males show their ink-stained fingers after casting their votes at a polling station in 2010. (Photo: AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission said on Thursday that it had completed necessary preparations for the participation of large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in parliamentary elections scheduled for October.

"The displaced can cast their votes two days before the polling date, and we have developed a plan for their participation in the October elections to include 120,000 displaced people," Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Judge Adnan Jalil said at a press conference in Baghdad.

He also explained that the commission had coordinated with the United Nations to coordinate the work of 120 international observers to be present at polling and tallying stations across the country.

Despite multiple postponements of the vote and a number of parties in the Iraqi legislature having announced that they would boycott the election, including the movement of firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, both the electoral commission and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi have maintained that the vote will be held on the set date.

Earlier in the week, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the party of former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki called in a joint statement for the vote to go on as planned.

Addressing the issue, Judge Jalil said, "The candidates have been registered, and the ballot papers have been printed, so the withdrawals and boycotts are of no significance."

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) argued on Wednesday that the plans to boycott the elections are misguided and that the integrity of the vote is essential to the embattled nation's future.

UN envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a speech to the Security Council on Wednesday that the elections, "are of great importance for the future of Iraq, and boycotting them is not an effective strategy."

"The credibility of the upcoming elections will be fundamental to the future of Iraq," she continued, stressing that the responsibility for the success of the elections "lies on the concerned Iraqi parties and the official authorities."

Editing by John J. Catherine