2 candidates for local elections in Diala excluded

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission excluded two candidates for the provincial council elections in Diala province for “violating” candidacy terms, the IHEC Diala office chief said on Friday. “The number of candidates in Diala thus went down from 641 to 639 after excluding a man and a woman from the Iraq is Ours list for failing to provide their graduation documents,” Amir Lateef Al Yahya told IraqiNews.com news agency. The provincial council election is scheduled to be held on January 31 all over Iraq except the province of Kirkuk and the three autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhuk. “Most candidates of political blocs in Diala for the forthcoming elections are technocrats and academicians,” said Yaha, adding the province comprises 44 entities while the number of the electorate is 798,202 out of a total population of 1.350 million. Diala lies 57 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P) 1