URGENT / Council of Ministers decides to postpone General Census

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Council of Ministers has decided to postpone the General Census in Iraq for next week, to take place after the scheduled meeting of the political blocs, according to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. “The Council of Ministers has decided to postpone the ordinary session, carrying No. 47 of Oct. 30, 2010, to define a new date for the General Census, instead of Dec. 5, 2010, i.e. to take place after the scheduled meeting of the political blocs next week,” the Spokesman for the General Secretariat told IraqiNews.com news agency, but gave no further details. The General Census was scheduled to take place, with the participation of 250,000 counting employees in different parts of Iraq on Oct. 5, 2010. This is the 9th General Census in Iraq since the first Census that took place on June 5, 1927, whilst the last and 8th Census took place on Oct. 16, 1997, which had accomplished a general data for all housing, economic and social transformations, but the Census did not cover Kurdistan Region. The Council of Minister’s meeting was held after the agreement on adding the expression “Nationalism” on the Census document, following an agreement by representatives of Kirkuk and Ninewa provinces, as well as members of the Kurdistan Parliament, al-Iraqiya Bloc and other blocs to add the expression. SKH/SR 1