ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi electoral body is continuing its preparations for the upcoming Kurdistan parliamentary elections, and the process will be highly monitored by international observers and representatives of civil society, according to an official from the commission.
“The preparations continue in all our offices in the Kurdistan Region,” Imad Jamil, the head of the Iraq’s Independent Electoral High Commission’s (IHEC) media team, told Rudaw in Erbil on Thursday. “The commission has formed executive, technical, legal, and logistic teams to support these offices.
“International observation will be present and highly active in monitoring the Kurdistan parliamentary elections. Representatives of civil society organizations, specialized in monitoring elections, will also have an active role.”
The upcoming election will be unique in Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary history, with fewer seats in the legislature, a new constituency system, and the poll being administered by the federal commission for the first time due to disagreements between the main Kurdish parties that resulted in the failure to reactivate the regional electoral body.
Jamil said that the commission conducted a simulation on Monday and will hold other simulations to test the quality of the equipment and transfer of ballots prior to the elections. Around 90 percent of all biometric cards have been handed to the eligible voters, according to the official.
In June, President Nechirvan Barzani set October 20 as the date for the vote, two years after its originally scheduled date. The election has been mired in difficulties, mainly because of tensions between the political parties - particularly differences between the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - exacerbated by interference from Baghdad.
“The elections were delayed more than once and this benefited the commission, honestly,” Jamil added. “Despite the fact that at times it confused the work and application of its operation of the commission, it completed its work and increased the rate of new voters and the newly-registered.”
The Kurdistan Region Presidency met with the IHEC in Erbil on Wednesday to review preparations for the upcoming parliamentary election.
“The presidency and all parties concerned with the elections ask for the electoral process to be conducted within the regulations, elections law, and the measures prepared by the commission, and for the elections to have results of high transparency and also ensure the rights of the voters,” Jamil noted on Thursday.
The IHEC official said that the primary results will be announced within the first 24 hours after polling stations close.
