800,000 to cast their votes in Anbar

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: The Sunni province of al-Anbar is bracingfor the forthcoming provincial council elections as 800,000 are to cast their votes to select their representatives among 38 blocs vying for local administrative positions. Khaled Rajab al-Muhammadi, the director of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC)’s Anbar office, told IraqiNews.com that there are 800,000 eligible voters among a total population of 1.400 million in the province, adding 13,000 civil servants from the education and higher education ministries will work in the ballot stations on election day. “There are about 277 stations all over the province, where 38 blocs are running over 29 seats in the city’s local council,” Muhammadi said. He denied any logistical or security problems facing the electorate, noting during the previous elections there were security-related problems impeding citizens to cast their votes, which is not the case now. Salah al-Dulaimi, a university professor, wished that the IHEC would observe neutrality and independence towards all candidates. “I think the opposite is just right. In light of the chaos overwhelming Iraq , some parties pushed its loyalists inside the IHEC, which, we wish, should purge itself of those non-independent members,” said Dulaimi. The IHEC’s Anbar office, however, argued that the commission members in the province are “neutral, professional, independent and highly trained as attested by the United Nations,” adding “it would be impossible that elections would be rigged because there are international and local observers as well as representatives of civil society organizations and political parties”. The Iraqi provincial council elections are scheduled to be held on January 31, 2009 . Khamees al-Abtan, a candidate running for the (Sunni) Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, said the IHEC is doing so well. “Success will be the commission’s ally because it is fair and neutral and comprise independent and professional members,” he said. AmR (S)/SR 3