Iraq confirms displaced families’ right to vote in upcoming elections

Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Displaced families across Iraq will be able to cast their ballots in the upcoming local and parliamentary elections, slated for May 12th, a well-placed governmental official was quoted as confirming Sunday.

In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Alghad Press, Secretary General of the Iraqi Council of Ministers Mahdi al-Allaq said, “Displaced families at all Iraqi camps and governorates will have the right to take part in the upcoming electoral process.”

“High-level coordination is underway to allow displaced people to vote in the upcoming polls,” Allaq said during a meeting with Bruno Geddo, the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Iraq.

Geddo, meanwhile, congratulated the Iraqi government on the success of the Kuwait International Conference on Reconstruction of Iraq that was held earlier this month in the Gulf country and resulted in about $33 billion in grants and loans to Iraq.

The UN official also called for “using modern mechanisms to facilitate registration of displaced people at voter databases.”

Iraq slated legislative and local elections for May 12th, but many Sunni politicians have questioned the integrity of the anticipated polls as nearly half of displaced civilians have yet to be repatriated to their home areas retaken from Islamic State militants.

The war against IS had displaced nearly five million people since the emergence of the group in 2014.

Sunni politicians have also been disturbed by Shia paramilitary commanders who dropped arms to run the elections.

In a recent report, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said over 3.3 million Iraqis have returned to their home regions, while nearly 2.5 million people continued to live in displacement till January 31, 2018.