Electoral commission rules out elections on time

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Thursday said that it will be difficult to hold provincial council elections on time if an amendment to the elections law is not made before November 5. “During its meeting with the parliamentary Committee of Regions and Provinces and the UNAMI office, the IHEC demanded to receive the provincial council elections law and the article pertaining to minorities before November 5,” the chairman of the committee, Hashim al-Taie, told IraqiNews.com. Earlier today, a parliamentary source told IraqiNews.com that members of the committee met with representatives of the IHCR and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) to discuss the possibility of holding elections on time. On September 24, the Iraqi Parliament approved a long-delayed law to allow provincial elections to go ahead, but lawmakers scrapped a key clause that would have guaranteed seats for Christians and other minorities. Iraq’s Parliament has set a January 31 deadline for elections in 14 provinces, excluding the three Kurdish provinces and the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk. Leaders of Iraq’s minority’s communities claimed the law did not provide for their representation in the councils that would be formed after the vote. SS (S) 1