ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has appointed qualified international observers to monitor the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections, the mission’s chief said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Iraqi parliament cited UNAMI chief Mohamed al-Hassan as telling the legislature’s speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani that “the United Nations has appointed qualified international observers to monitor the elections and contribute to their success.”
The UNAMI chief added that the observers would “contribute to the success” of the vote.
In a post on X, UNAMI said that the meeting between Hassan and Mashhadani covered “issues of mutual interest and the work of the United Nations in Iraq, including the humanitarian and human rights files, as well as the technical support provided by the Mission to the Independent High Electoral Commission [IHEC].”
IHEC announced last week that more than 1.85 million people across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have received biometric voting cards, raising the total number of eligible voters for the upcoming November 11 parliamentary elections to more than 21 million.
While UNAMI does not hold a formal monitoring role, it has provided technical support and expertise to IHEC throughout the electoral process.
In January, UNAMI welcomed the extension of IHEC’s term by the Supreme Judicial Council and reiterated its commitment to helping Iraqi authorities ensure “free, fair, credible, transparent and timely elections.”
IHEC also supervised the Kurdistan Region’s elections held on October 20.
