PM vows to provide IHCE with requirements for holding elections

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday said that his government will provide the Independent Higher Commission for Elections (IHCE) with all its requirements and needs to hold the provincial councils elections by the end of the current year. “The prime minister received at his office in Baghdad the head of the IHCE Faraj al-Haydari, during which he pledged that his government will provide the commission with all its needs to hold the elections by the end of the year,” al-Maliki’s office said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com. “Iraqi police and armed forces are ready to protect the poll stations,” he said, noting that “a complete plan was mapped out in this regard.” He called on officials in the commission to coordinate with mass media to organize the elections campaign. On September 24, the Iraqi Parliament unanimously voted on the contentious law on provincial council elections following months of fierce debate. The Parliament’s decision to remove Article 50 has sparked heated reactions from several political blocs representing the country’s Christians as well as other minorities.   SH (P)/SR   1