Parliamentary legality: The current parliament has full powers

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The President of Iraq approves a law to finance the expenses of the upcoming parliamentary elections

Iraqi President Barham Salih

 December 24, 2020 06:34 PM

Mubasher: Iraqi President Barham Salih approved the bill for financing the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Barham Salih said today, Thursday, that the approval of the law on financing the expenses of the upcoming parliamentary elections comes as a prelude to holding fair and fair early elections, according to the official account of the Presidency of the Republic on the social networking site "Twitter".

He indicated that the step aims to make the elections a success and enable the Independent High Electoral Commission to prepare for the elections.

Barham Salih approved the parliamentary election law last November, saying, " Electoral corruption is a serious scourge that threatens societal peace and economic safety, and the road to this scourge must be cut off."

At the time, Saleh stressed the need to fulfill the requirements of holding early elections, based on the foundations of integrity and justice in its various stages, including biometric registration, and effective and serious coordination between the Elections Commission and the United Nations for monitoring and supervision in order to achieve this.

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The President of the Republic approves the law on financing parliamentary elections expenses

Editing date: 12/24/2020 18:34 • 155 read times

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[Baghdad-Where]
The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, approved today, Thursday, December 24, 2020, the law for allocating and financing the expenses of the elections to the House of Representatives.

While anticipating the law, according to the statement issued by his office, Saleh said, "The approval comes as a prelude to holding early, fair and fair elections, and for the purpose of the success of the elections and enabling the Independent High Electoral Commission to prepare for the elections."
The president's approval came after the law reached the Presidency of the Republic from the House of Representatives after it was voted on in the House

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The commission stops distributing short-term voter cards

Wednesday 30 December 2020 43

 

Baghdad: Morning
The Independent High Electoral Commission has suspended the short-term electoral cards, indicating that the phase of updating the biometric data will last for 30 days. A statement by the commission stated that it “will start the phase of updating the voter register in electronic registration centers (biometric) throughout Iraq for a period of (30) days. From next month until next March; For the purpose of collecting textual and vital voter data and updating it, as the update phase consists of conducting any of the cases (addition, deletion, change, correction, registration of displaced persons and the security forces), in addition to continuing the biometric registration process for unregistered voters, and distributing the biometric voter card. In order to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and reduce fraud, the Board of Commissioners issued a decision to suspend the distribution of short-term printed voter cards during the period (2013-2018), as the textual data related to it was destroyed and deleted; The owners did not review the receipt.

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The Election Commission officially announces the work of the biometric card

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Last updated: December 29, 2020 - 12:11 p.m.

 Baghdad / Iraq News Network - The Independent High Electoral Commission announced, on Tuesday (December 29, 2020), the suspension of the notorious electoral cards, while indicating that the biometric data update phase will continue for 30 days. The commission said in its weekly speech that it “will start an update phase. The register of voters in the electronic registration centers (biometric) throughout Iraq for a period of (30) days, starting from 01/01/2021 until 2/2/2021; For the purpose of collecting textual and vital voter data and updating it, as the update phase consists of conducting any of the cases (addition, deletion, change, correction, registration of displaced persons and the security forces), in addition to continuing the biometric registration process for unregistered voters, and distributing the biometric voter card. She added, “To ensure the integrity of the electoral process and reduce fraud, the Board of Commissioners issued a decision suspending the distribution of short-term printed voter cards during the period (2013-2018), as the textual data related to it was destroyed and deleted. For the owners not to review their receipt, bearing in mind that the commission will re-register them biometrically upon their review, “calling upon” voters to visit the registration center near their place of residence To conduct any of the aforementioned updating cases. ”The statement clarified that“ based on the annexes to the Elections Law No. 9 of 2020 in which electoral districts were divided into (83) electoral districts throughout Iraq, the Council of Commissioners approved the preliminary voter register and evidence of Polling stations distributed in all registration centers, which enables the voter to infer the polling station in which he will vote according to his electoral district. The commission continued, “On a level related to electoral districts, the commission has completed the features of the recent deployment of polling stations and stations after taking into account the constituencies and adding the births (2001-2002-2003) of the new voters, so that the approximate number of polling stations at the level of Iraq inside and outside Iraq is about ( 58915) station, which prompted the Commission to sign annexes with (Miro Korean) company; To equip the additional electronic verification kit for the offices of the Kurdistan region, as well as the additional equipment for the elections abroad, new births, and reserves according to the indicators of the latest spread conducted by the commission, as well as the case with regard to the compensatory electronic counting and counting devices for the Erbil and foreign elections office, new births and reserves, and thus the commission has completed the process of securing devices Electronic electoral process within the operational timetable for the electoral process. She pointed out that “requests for political party registration, as the total number of all electoral processes reached (429), of which (231) were requests related to the granting of a certificate of incorporation, from which the new Board of Commissioners was granted according to the Elections Commission Law No. (31) of 2019, 3) Foundation Certificate Parties. ”On the other hand, the statement stated,“ The Commission holds training and development workshops for its employees in the National Office and the offices of the electoral governorates in all the electoral, administrative and legal aspects, and members of the Board of Commissioners continue their periodic visits to the governorates' electoral offices and their registration centers. To keep abreast of their actions, activities and preparations for the voter registry update phase, as well as the mobile teams' preparations; To support the registration, distribution and update processes. The Commission's statement pointed out, “The Supreme Security Committee for Elections is visiting the electoral governorates' offices throughout Iraq. To provide security support and support in preserving the democratic process.

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Al-Kazemi confirms his suppor t for the commission in the success of the upcoming elections

Monday, January 11, 2021 4

 

Baghdad: Morning

 

 

The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, discussed with the head and members of the Independent High Electoral Commission the progress of preparations for the implementation of the elections at the date previously announced by the government on June 6, 2021.

Al-Kazemi said, in a statement to his media office: The government continues to support the work of the commission with everything it can, in order to adhere to the timings and timetables required for the success of the electoral process. 

He also listened to a briefing about the latest stages of the commission’s work, in the field of political entities' and candidate registration, the biometric voter registration process, and updating the electoral register.

The meeting witnessed a review of the methods used to overcome the obstacles facing the work of the Commission, pending the formation of the Federal Court in accordance with the constitutional contexts.

For his part, the Board of Commissioners thanked the governmental support for the work of the Commission, the electoral process and the preparations for it, for the sake of the success of the elections, in a way that ensures that its outcomes are a true expression of the will of the Iraqi people.

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New law for provincial elections

Monday, January 11, 2021 36

 

 

  Baghdad: Omar Abdul Latif

 

The Legal Committee in the House of Representatives is moving towards legislating a new law for provincial elections.

The head of the committee, Rebwar Hadi, told Al-Sabah: “Parliament had previously enacted a law for the past provincial council elections,” indicating that “the Saint-Lego system was approved at that time.”

He added, "Parliament voted on its election law, which prompted the committee to make the necessary preparations to prepare a law for the upcoming provincial council elections, according to the system in which the upcoming parliamentary elections are going."

For his part, Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Muhammad Al-Ghazi, told Al-Sabah that "the law will be similar to the House of Representatives election law, in the form of the number of electoral districts."

Local council elections were scheduled to take place in May 2018, but they were postponed to September 2018 and then to October of the same year, and then postponed again to April 2020, before the parliament's decision to cancel these councils.

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The commission elects a new head of electoral administration

•  Time: 01/2021/12 11:58:23
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•  Read: 2,054 times

  

(Baghdad: Al Furat News) Today, Tuesday, the Election Commission announced that it has elected Abbas Farhan Hassan as head of the electoral administration.

The Commission stated in a statement that the Euphrates News received a copy of it, “Based on the Commissioner's Law No. (31) of 2019, Chapter Two, Article Eight thereof, which states: (Members of the Board of Commissioners shall elect from among its members a president of the electoral administration who shall exercise his duties for a period not exceeding On (1) non-renewable year).

He continued: “And due to the expiration of the first session since Chancellor (Ahlam Al-Jabri) assumed the presidency of the electoral administration on 1/13/2020 AD according to the decision of the Council of Commissioners issued on 1/13/2020 AD, the Board of Commissioners held an extraordinary session headed by the Chairman of the Council of Commissioners Judge (Jalil Adnan Khalaf) ), And the presence of all members of the Council, and the United Nations Electoral Assistance Team in Iraq (UNAMI), in order to implement the aforementioned article of selecting the head of the electoral administration for the second session.

The statement added, "The session was opened with thanks and praise for the efforts made by the head of the electoral administration for the past period, and then the door for candidacy for the presidency of the electoral administration for the second session was opened."

And he added: "Two members of the Board of Commissioners nominated to head the electoral administration, and after the secret vote, Commissioner, Judge Abbas Farhan Hassan, won the confidence of the Council by an absolute majority."

Hussein Hatem

 

 

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Distributing 850,000 biometric cards in Babylon

Wednesday 13th January 2021 43

 

  Hillah: Jinan Al-Asadi 

 

The Babil Elections Commission office reported that the number of voters receiving the biometric card amounted to about 850,000, by more than 80 percent in preparation for the parliamentary elections

Coming.

The Director of Information of the Babil Elections Office Amir Hussein told Al-Sabah: The commission has started the process of updating the voter register for the period from January 2 to February 2, in order to allow the voter to carry out the update process of adding, correcting and deleting the deceased and transferring, provided that the transfer is within the electoral district. The one exclusively.

He indicated that the Babylon Commission has allocated more than 55 mobile teams to update the electoral data throughout the governorate, as well as receiving voters through the 37 sub-centers to receive voters who wish to register their vital electronic data and receive the biometric electronic card approved by the new electoral law in which they will vote exclusively through elections. 

Coming. 

He explained that the number of registered voters in Babil Governorate amounted to more than one million and 379 thousand voters, indicating that the number of registered voters on a biometric basis reached more than 800,000 voters, i.e. the percentage of 69 

percent.

He indicated that the Commission had opened the door to receive applications for candidates wishing to compete for seats in the House of Representatives in Babylon, as the nomination window was opened from January 9 to January 28, and within procedures prepared by the Commission.

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The presidencies, the commission and the UN envoy stress the need to increase the biometric registration rate

20:14 - 01/12/2021

 

  

Information / Baghdad

The three presidencies, the Election Commission and the UN envoy stressed the need to increase the biometric registration rate and to settle the Federal Court law.

"A meeting was held between the three presidencies and the Electoral Commission, in the presence of the UN representative in Iraq, Jenin Blashardt, to discuss the status of the elections," a statement by the presidencies received by the information said .

He added, "The meeting stressed the importance of increasing the biometric registration rate and completing the legislation related to the Federal Court law as soon as possible."

And that "the meeting stressed the importance of taking strict measures to prevent fraud and manipulation in all steps of the electoral process." 25 n

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The Commission: The number of voters has reached 25 million, and the registered biometric is 15 million

•  Time: 01/13/2021 15:19:54
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•  Read: 806 times

  

{Baghdad: Al-Furat News} The Election Commission announced that the number of voters reached 25 million, after counting new births, which reached more than two million voters.

A statement by the Parliamentary Media Department, which Al Furat News Agency received a copy of, stated that "the legal committee headed by MP Rebwar Hadi, head of the committee, and the attendance of its members hosted today, Wednesday, the members of the Independent High Electoral Commission and the advanced technical staff in it in addition to the directors of the IHEC offices in the governorates to discuss the commission's preparations." To hold the next parliamentary elections. "
At the beginning of the meeting, which was held at the committee’s headquarters in the House of Representatives, in the presence of a number of deputies of different parliamentary committees, the Legal Committee praised the efforts of the Commission and its work, stressing the need for continuous coordination and cooperation between the Parliamentary Legal Committee and the Elections Commission, in order to find out the points of deficiency and address them in order to conduct free and fair elections that meet the ambitions Iraqi citizens and restore confidence in the outcome of the elections and the democratic process in general.
The Legal Committee demanded from the Commission "clarification on a number of issues, including the Commission’s work plan in preparation for the upcoming election, the rate of completion and distribution of biometric cards, the number of employees of some of the Commission’s offices in the governorates that suffer from a shortage of its cadres, the issue of displaced persons, in addition to confirming the contracts of UNHCR’s employees on permanent staffing As well as the number of voters abroad. "
For their part, the commission delegation presented "a summary of what has been done and the most important obstacles and problems facing their work, as the commission said that the number of voters reached (25) million voters after counting new births, which reached more than two million voters, pointing out that the percentage of registered biometrics has reached now. To 61%, or nearly (15) million voters, indicating that there is no updated statistics on the number of foreign voters, which in 2018 was according to the commission's statistics, more than 800,000 voters.
The commission added that, "due to the Corona pandemic and the difficulty of sending its cadres abroad to update the voter register abroad, the commission opened the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek the help of the ministry's staff in the Iraqi embassies to contribute to updating the voter registry after training those cadres. 
At the conclusion of the meeting of the Legal Committee it stressed the need for continued communication and cooperation between the Commission and the Office of the Independent High Elections, in the interest of the House of Representatives to create the appropriate conditions for the holding of elections within the proposed timings. "
Ammar al - Masoudi

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Modern equipment for the elections and no statistics on foreign voters

Thursday 14th January 2021 36

 

  Baghdad: Omar Abdul Latif

 

The Independent High Electoral Commission is using new verification devices during the upcoming elections, and while it affirmed its commitment to the date of its holding, it revealed that the number of voters reached (25) million after counting the new births, with no new statistics on foreign voters.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Parliamentary Law hosted the members of the Independent High Electoral Commission and the advanced technical staff in it, as well as the directors of the commission’s offices in the governorates. To discuss the commission's preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The delegation of the Commission said, according to a statement, that “the number of voters reached (25) million voters after counting the new births, which reached more than (2) million voters,” indicating that “the percentage of registered biometrics reached 61%, which is approximately 15 ) Million Voters ».  

The delegation revealed, "There is no updated statistics on the number of foreign voters, which in 2018, according to the commission's statistics, was more than 800 thousand voters."

For her part, UNHCR spokeswoman Jumana Al-Ghali explained to “Al-Sabah” that “the number of verification devices reached 70 thousand and 704 devices, while the screening devices amounted to about 63 thousand,” noting that “the commission will use new verification devices while maintaining the electronic counting and sorting devices.” .

And she added, "These devices are characterized by the existence of an adequate charging period in the event of a power failure in the polling stations, and the accuracy of the fingerprint in these devices and their matching is 100%, as the voter's fingerprints will appear on the screen of the verification device for the purpose of speeding up the matching process."

And El-Ghalai added that "the hardware software is designed and organized to suit the Iraqi atmosphere, with updates on the software in line with the new law."

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In preparation for early elections ... a recommendation to apply a constitutional article to dissolve the Iraqi parliament

Side of the meeting

 January 14, 2021 10:55 PM

Mubasher: The four presidencies in Iraq represented by Barham Salih, President of the Republic, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, Prime Minister, Muhammad Al-Halbousi, Speaker of Parliament, and Fayeq Zaidan, President of the Supreme Judicial Council, held a meeting to discuss preparations for the upcoming elections.

The Presidency of the Republic stated, in a statement issued today, Thursday, that the meeting recommended the need for Parliament to legislate the Federal Court law, and to apply Article 64 of the Constitution related to the dissolution of the House of Representatives in preparation for early elections.

The meeting also affirmed the full support for the Independent High Electoral Commission to accomplish its tasks, and to complete the constitutional and legal requirements for holding early elections.

The meeting witnessed the presence of the Chair and members of the Board of Commissioners of the Independent High Electoral Commission, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jenin Hennes Plasschaert.

During the meeting, the Electoral Commission presented the schedule of technical operations and timings for conducting early elections, as well as its commitment to conduct fair and fair elections, intensifying its efforts to complete the biometric registration of all voters, and coordination to ensure effective international monitoring.

The commission confirmed that it will give sufficient time for candidates, political alliances, new political forces and youth to complete the legal registration procedures and submit candidate lists.

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The presidencies hold a meeting with the election commission and the UN envoy to discuss preparations for holding the elections

Thursday 14th January 2021 125

 

 

Baghdad: Morning 

 

Today, Thursday, the presidencies held a meeting in the presence of the President of the Republic, Dr. Barham Salih, the Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Al-Halbousi, and the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan.

 

The meeting was hosted by the Chairman and members of the Board of Commissioners of the Independent High Electoral Commission, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jeanine Hennes Blasshardt, to discuss the upcoming early elections file.

 

During the meeting, the Electoral Commission presented the schedule of technical operations and timings for conducting early elections, as well as its commitment to conduct fair and fair elections, intensifying its efforts to complete the biometric registration of all voters, and coordination to ensure effective international monitoring.

 

The Commission confirmed that it will give sufficient time for candidates, political alliances, new political forces and youth to complete the legal registration procedures and submit lists of candidates.

 

In order to enable it to complete its work, the meeting recommended providing full support to the Independent High Electoral Commission to accomplish its tasks and complete the constitutional and legal requirements for holding early elections, and in particular the need for Parliament to legislate the Federal Court’s law, as well as the application of Article 64 of the Constitution related to the dissolution of the House of Representatives in preparation for itself. To conduct early elections.

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Election Commission: We did not ask to postpone early elections to next September

Political| 11:34 - 01/14/2021

 

 

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazine News

The Independent High Electoral Commission has renewed its readiness to hold the elections as scheduled next June.
"The meeting of the presidencies with the election commission and the UN envoy discussed preparations for the upcoming elections," said commission spokesman Jumana Al-Ghalai.
She added, "The meeting discussed the challenges and the completion of the electoral process, stressing that the commission is technically ready to hold the elections on time on the sixth of next June
."
In the Presidency meeting, the Electoral Commission presented, in the presence of the President of the Republic Barham Salih, the Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, the Speaker of Parliament Muhammad Al-Halbousi and the President of the Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zaidan, the schedule of technical operations and timings for holding early elections. To complete the biometric registration of all voters, and to coordinate to ensure effective international monitoring.  
The Commission confirmed that it would give sufficient time to candidates, political alliances, new political forces and youth to complete the legal registration procedures and submit candidate lists. Ended 29 / A43

[yota691]

Al-Kazemi issues a recommendation to the Electoral Commission

•  Time: 01/15/2021 13:04:06
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•  Read: 2,496 times

  

{Baghdad: Al-Furat News} The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq revealed a marked decrease in citizens ’turnout to update their electoral data, with the possibility of extending the time period granted to voters to update their data.

The government had set the sixth of next June as the date for holding early elections in the country.
The official spokesperson for the Commission, Jumana Al-Ghalai, said in a press statement, today, Friday, that "only about 105 thousand citizens have updated their electoral data," noting that "the period for updating the data ends on the second of next February."
She explained that "two of the political alliances registered out of 25 coalitions," noting that "25 million citizens are entitled to vote, while the number of those who received the biometric card is 14 million voters." 
Al-Ghalai suggested "extending the deadline for updating voter registers, for an additional two months, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi", pointing out that "the citizens' failure to update their data and the extension of the deadline would cause the commission's work to be delayed."
After counting the number of births in the years 2001, 2002, and 2003, the number of eligible voters in Iraq reached 25 million, with an increase of two million voters, as 60% of them were registered in the biometric, equivalent to 15 million voters.
And there were reports of postponing early elections after the three presidencies met with the commission and the UNAMI mission.
But the Election Commission denied this and confirmed its willingness to hold the elections on the scheduled date or extend it to the month of September at the latest.
Ammar Al-Masoudi

[yota691]

Al-Halbousi: Do not heed the voices of those calling for the boycott

Saturday January 16, 2021 35

 

Baghdad: Morning 

 

 On Friday, the Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, stressed the importance of urging citizens to register "biometric", stressing the need not to heed the voices calling for a boycott of elections.

A statement by the Parliament's Media Department stated that Al-Halbousi heard, in his meeting with a number of sheikhs and notables in Hor Rajab and Al Bu Aitha, in the host of the Al Bu Aitha clan, to “a number of problems that the people of these areas suffer from, in addition to discussing the most important steps that contribute to overcoming them, Which will be followed up with the concerned authorities ».

He referred to "the importance of the role of clans in supporting the state and consolidating stability," praising "their original stances in the various crises that 

Facing the country ».

Calling for "the need to encourage citizens to register biometric for the purpose of adopting it in the upcoming elections," calling for "actively participating in selecting representatives who express their aspirations, and not paying attention to the voices calling for boycotting the elections."

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Baghdad presidential meeting discuss preparations for the elections

Saturday January 16, 2021 36

 

 Baghdad: Muhammad Al-Ansari

 

 

The four presidencies affirmed the need for Parliament to legislate the Federal Court law in preparation for holding early elections as scheduled on the sixth of next June, while the Independent High Electoral Commission confirmed its readiness to hold them on the aforementioned date and to ensure the technical and logistical steps to organize them.

The Presidency of the Republic stated in a statement, "The four presidencies represented by the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, the Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, the Speaker of Parliament Muhammad Al-Halbousi, and the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, held a meeting (yesterday evening, Thursday, the first) in which it hosted the President and members of the Council of Commissioners. In the Independent High Electoral Commission, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jeanine Hennes Plasschaert, to discuss the upcoming early elections file. The statement added, "The Electoral Commission presented during the meeting the schedule of technical operations and timings for conducting early elections, as well as its commitment to conduct fair and fair elections, intensify its efforts to complete biometric registration of all voters, and coordinate to ensure effective international monitoring."

The commission confirmed, according to the presidential statement, that it "will give sufficient time to candidates, political alliances, new political forces and youth to complete the legal registration procedures and submit candidate lists." The statement added, “To enable it to complete its work, the meeting recommended providing full support to the Independent High Electoral Commission to accomplish its tasks and complete the constitutional and legal requirements for holding early elections, and in particular the need for Parliament to legislate the Federal Court’s law, as well as apply Article 64 of the constitution related to To dissolve the House of Representatives in preparation for early elections. The Election Commission stated, for its part, in a separate statement, that “Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Jalil Adnan Khalaf, President of the Electoral Administration Abbas Farhan Hassan, and members of the Independent High Electoral Commission attended the presidential meeting at Baghdad Palace to discuss the upcoming early elections file.

The statement added, "During the meeting, the Chairman and members of the Board of Commissioners presented the technical operational schedule and timings for conducting early elections, and the specific dates for the voter registry update process that started on 2/1/2021 and the continuation of the biometric registration processes and the distribution of the biometric voter card, as well as the periods Set to form political alliances and receive lists of candidates. " The meeting discussed “the challenges that accompany the aforementioned date and the need to make room for parties, coalitions and candidates for the alliance, which started on 9/1/2021 and ends on 1/16/2021. They also discussed ways that could contribute to increasing the biometric registration rate, according to the prime minister's direction.” The necessity to extend the registration period for another two months, starting from February. At the meeting, the Commission announced that it " Despite the health and economic challenges that affected her job stability, she is technically fully prepared to hold free and fair elections in accordance with international standards on 6/6/2021 or at any other date. To give a greater opportunity to register alliances and candidates and register all voters to participate in the parliamentary elections, provided that this does not exceed next September, with the Commission stressing the importance of completing the necessary requirements for the success of the elections, namely the Federal Court Law, and securing the protection of the elections. , That it is based on the pledge it has made in performing the legal duty specified in the Commission’s law, the election law, and all legislation with a framework related to the election process.

In addition, the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Elections Affairs, Abdul-Hussein Al-Hindawi, confirmed the international community's readiness to support the elections in the field of monitoring. Al-Hindawi said: "The meeting of Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein with the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and the French Chargé d'Affairs, discussed the issue of international election observation and the international community's readiness to support the elections in Iraq in the field of observation." He pointed out that "postponing the elections is the viewpoint of some political forces, and it is not the official position," stressing that "the commission is working according to the specified date, and its work will be until further notice."

Last Wednesday, Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein met with the US Ambassador Matthew Tueller, the British Ambassador Stephen Hickey, the French Chargé d'Affairs to Jean Noble, in the presence of a representative of the United Nations, and representatives of the President of the Republic, namely Krikor Bakram and Karim Al-Tamimi, the advisor to the Prime Minister Abdul Hussein Al-Hindawi, and the director Office of Parliament Speaker Muhammad Nuri.

A statement by the ministry clarified that "the foreign minister affirmed that the government seeks to make the upcoming elections free and fair and enjoys the confidence of the people. He also referred to the Iraqi government's message to the United Nations, to provide support and send observers to hold the elections on time."

Hussein called for "holding a meeting with experts from government agencies to follow up the necessary steps and find a legal formula for the presence of international observers during the election period."

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Legal expert: The current blocs in Parliament will lose two-thirds of their seats due to the biometric card

•  Time: 01/16/2021 14:13:19
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•  Read: 871 times

  

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} Legal expert Tareq Harb confirmed, today, Saturday, that the biometric system that will be implemented in early elections, with the increase in the popular participation rate than before, will affect the arrival of the current political blocs in Parliament to their seats during the upcoming elections.

Harb said in a statement, the Euphrates News received a copy of it, that "if half of those who were not previously elected participated in the biometrics, then the existing parliamentary blocs will lose two-thirds of the seats they currently hold."             

He added that "in a simple arithmetic process and because everyone who boycotted the previous elections did not vote because he was not convinced of all the competing blocs in the previous elections and because the electoral battle for power is between those who want to continue in power, that is, the blocs represented in Parliament now who repeat in their media the call not to participate in the new elections." "We will stand up to biometrics, and they assure that things will remain as they are, and there will be no new and no change in rulers at all, because they will continue in power even if early elections are held."  

He continued, "Indeed, some say that early elections will grant some of the blocs currently in power more parliamentary seats than they got in the previous elections, and some of them said that they had reached the position of prime minister, without the former knowing that what they got was due to the participation of less than 20% of those who have the right to vote, and that more than 80% boycotted the previous elections and that the new elections will witness the vote of at least 60% of those who did not vote before and boycotted the elections.  

Harb added, "We can imagine the difference between the previous 20% and the new 60% participating in early elections at least, if we do not say that the percentage of new participants will be higher and that the biometric will eliminate fraud in the new elections and not as happened in the previous elections, where fraud and burning were. In full swing, and specifically, the new blocs will have more parliamentary seats than any of the existing blocs in Parliament now.  

He explained that, "What any bloc represented in Parliament currently gets does not exceed, at best, a third of what it obtained previously in the previous elections. Whoever previously won 54 seats will not obtain more than twenty seats, and so on with regard to the existing factions in Parliament now." This is if the existing parliamentary blocs were able to mobilize their forces with the participation of all their members, as they did in the previous elections, when they mobilized all their members and the upcoming elections are not far away, and we will see the correctness of this saying.  

 

Hussein Hatem

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Today .. The deadline for the registration of candidates has expired. No suspension for the commission

•  Time: 01/16/2021 15:03:09
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•  Read: 689 times

  

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The deadline for registering candidates for early parliamentary elections ends today, Saturday, according to the Election Commission announcement.

According to sources, "any political bloc has not submitted its candidates to the commission, and the latter has not issued any clarifying statement in this regard. Will it be extended and for what date?"
And she stressed that "the Board of Commissioners should be more clear, because the responsibility entrusted to it is enormous."
In addition, the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Elections Affairs, Abdul-Hussein Al-Hindawi, affirmed the international community's readiness to support the elections in the field of monitoring.

Al-Hindawi said: "The meeting of Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein with the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and the French Chargé d'Affairs, discussed the issue of international election observation and the international community's readiness to support the elections in Iraq in the field of observation."

Last Wednesday, Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein met with the US Ambassador Matthew Tueller, the British Ambassador Stephen Hickey, the French Chargé d'Affairs to Jean Noble, in the presence of a representative of the United Nations, and representatives of the President of the Republic, namely Krikor Bakram and Karim Al-Tamimi, the advisor to the Prime Minister Abdul Hussein Al-Hindawi, and the director Office of Parliament Speaker Muhammad Nuri.
A statement by the ministry clarified that "the foreign minister affirmed that the government seeks to make the upcoming elections free and fair and enjoys the confidence of the people. He also referred to the Iraqi government's message to the United Nations, to provide support and send observers to conduct the elections on time."
Hussein called for "holding a meeting with experts from government agencies to follow up the necessary steps and find a legal formula for the presence of international observers during the election period."

 

 

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The Council of Ministers sets the date for approving the biometric card, stating that it is documented

•  Time: 01/16/2021 20:12:13
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•  Read: 4,459 times

  

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The Cabinet has set the first of next February as the date for the approval of the biometric card, as proof in state departments.

In the statement of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, {Al Furat News} received a copy of it, "It was decided to count the long-term biometric voter card, one of the identification documents approved by state departments, and the decision urged all employees and contractors working in state institutions to update their biometric data within (60) One day, and obtaining a long-term biometric voter card. "
The statement added, "The decision will be implemented starting from 1/2/2021."

Wafa Al-Fatlawi

[yota691]

The commission invites international organizations and embassies to monitor the elections

Sunday 17th January 2021 88

 

 Baghdad: Omar Abdul Latif and Muhannad Abdul Wahhab

 

The Independent High Electoral Commission called on international organizations and Arab and foreign embassies to monitor the electoral process that will take place on the sixth of next June, while MPs talk about problems in the election law.

 

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided the commission with the names of 52 Arab and foreign embassies and 19 international organizations, as the commission sent invitations to monitor the stages of the electoral process," said UNHCR spokeswoman Jumana Al-Ghalai.

She added, "The number of voters who will participate in the upcoming elections amounted to 25 million 139 thousand and 375 voters, while the number of registered biometric reached nearly 15 million voters, while the total number of cards distributed reached nearly 13 million biometric cards."

And she talked about "an increase in the number of people wanting to update their data on holidays to ensure participation in the elections, as the majority of voters are employees who take advantage of the holidays to visit those 1079 centers."

Al-Ghalai added, "The Ministry of Immigration has also provided the UNHCR with the latest situation for the displaced in the governorates of Nineveh, Anbar, Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah, as the UNHCR registered 838 displaced persons as of 12/1/2021."

It indicated that, "The Commission opened the door for registration to form alliances and political mergers from 9 to 16 of this January, and received lists of candidates from 9 to 28 of the same month, as the total number of registration applications since the previous electoral processes and so far reached 438 applications, of which the approved parties are 230 parties." And the number of registration requests for parties under establishment is 62. "

Regarding the requests of the parties rejected by the decision of the Board of Commissioners, they amounted to 128 applications. As for the number of party registration requests that submitted to withdraw their request, 17 parties, according to the spokeswoman for the Commission.

"The new commission received two applications to register electoral alliances for the year 2021 until 1/14/2021, while there are 25 electoral coalitions that have been approved since 2018."

The Commission spokeswoman explained that 29 parties expressed their desire to enter the next elections, and it is increasing, asking the previously registered parties to review the Department of Political Parties and Organizations Affairs to show their desire to participate, while previously registered coalitions review the same department to receive a form that includes updating the data of the parties affiliated with it. Viewing the regulations and instructions related to them through the website of the commission.

On Saturday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, announced the appointment of Ingebjurg Solron Giladottir from Iceland as the new deputy of his special representative for political affairs and electoral assistance in the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Regarding the Federal Court Law, the emerging Sabian Mandaean representative in Parliament, Nawfal, stated that "the House of Representatives must resolve the vote on the Federal Court Law because without its approval, the elections will not pass." Early ". 

He added to "Al-Sabah", that "it is possible that surprises will occur in the run-up to the elections, including the increase in the volume of demonstrations in some provinces and thus impede the election process in addition to the possibility of urgent political changes."

He pointed out that "the election law has some problems, but it can be solved, such as the Bayramtric or electronic voting."

[yota691]

Next February ... "Biometrics", as evidence

Sunday 17th January 2021 145

 

  Baghdad: Morning

  

 

The Cabinet Secretariat set, early February, the date for the approval of the biometric card, as proof.

The secretariat explained, in a statement, that "the Council of Ministers decided to count the long-term biometric voter card, one of the identification documents approved by state departments."

The statement added, "The decision urges all employees and contractors working in all state institutions to update their biometric data within (60) days, and to obtain a long-term biometric voter card."

[yota691]

The road to political change in Iraq

Monday January 18, 2021 53

 

Ibrahim Al-Abadi

 

Three trends are expected to be major headlines in the upcoming political and electoral struggle: the first trend is post-Islamism, the second trend is populism, and the third is Iraqi patriotism. While the pace is accelerating towards making the upcoming elections a decisive political articulation, forces seek to re-establish power in Iraq anew by renewing the faces of political actors, counter forces feel that they are targeted, and they must defend their presence, by waging an electoral battle with full caliber and weapons, and the first of these weapons will be the media and its speeches And because the media, by its nature, seeks to construct and frame public opinion trends, the central issues that the parties to the election race will focus on will reflect the mentality of the currents, their ideologies, and their approaches to these issues, with an emphasis on the elements of emotional and emotional tension.

The Iraqi society is rife with great political movements, and the protests have fueled many questions that were not only questioning the authorities, but rather an internal internal debate, some of which remained suppressed and some of it appeared to the public about the usefulness of large speeches and larger narratives, if the forces and elites to which they belong were not able to accommodate the aspirations of the people In the context of these questions, the political struggle emerges under the umbrella of three currents with their post-Islamist, populist and patriotic tendencies, and it is these currents that will run in the elections, but with their old and new names, so the competitors will enter an existential struggle to confirm their presence in the power structure and represent part of the street. Which was greatly disturbed by political shocks, economic crises, and conflict of regional and international axes, in addition to the failure of the forces that seized power in running the state at a level of acceptability and rationality that qualifies it to continue.

Post-Islamism is represented by the reproduction of the (Iraqi Islamic Project) with its different sectarian and partisan colors to match the violent criticism that (the Islamists) were subjected to in their pursuit of the Islamization of life according to their ideological perspectives, as Islamism and its program are no longer able to meet the requirements of the daily life of the public. And the project is its ability to persuade, and the slogan of Islam is no longer a sufficient solution to approach the crises and problems of the state and society, and the proponents of the project did not embody sufficient skills and capabilities to maintain the enthusiasm and employ efforts to perpetuate the momentum of (the battle of Islamism) as they imagined it.In general, the forces of political Islam suffered tremendously in proving an authoritarian merit and innovative solutions to successive crises. Persuading the public became a tremendous challenge that required re-examination of tools and methods and the formation of new elites with new concepts and visions in light of the internal and external criticism to which the experiences of Islamists in general were exposed, and from here comes the talk about ( Post-Islamism) to be an expression of a new thought and a new stage!In it, religiosity and the call to the Islamic project become very distinct from the past and the present, differentiation dictated by the stage of uprising, criticism and rejection, and this tendency (I personally) assume that it will be present in the elections in multiple formats, in addition to the populist forces that will fill the political space with their methods of flattening awareness and falsifying intellectual debates Crossing over the major issues blaming others, continuing hate speech, stereotyping enemies, holding the other responsible, and self-respecting. As for issues of failure, corruption, contempt for the state, its competition, and the floating of its authorities and institutions, they are left unanswered because the unspoken hidden, and because the time of reform has not hit the minds and ears of this project.The Iraqi National Movement remains searching for space in these elections as well, for it is a nascent trend but strong with its arguments and its understanding of the experience of past years, it is a current that does not want to turn the battle of building the state into an Islamist and secular struggle, nor a nationalist and internationalist struggle, or a struggle of local forces against external forces, Ideological struggles, revolutionary dreams, and utopian projects have consumed a hundred years of the state’s life, and now the time has come (to put) the harvest of bitter experiences into practice, so that the focus will be on building Iraq and the Iraqi state without ideological conflict or utopian dreams. It is a dangerous bet on a consciousness that has not yet built itself.

[yota691]

The biometric card ... a political demand "against forgery"

Tuesday 19 January 2021 57

 

 Baghdad: Hoda Al-Azzawi

 

Political and parliamentary circles have warned against repeating the bitter experience of the 2018 elections, with all the violations they carried and little public participation, indicating that the conditions for holding “free, fair and fair” elections must be based on confining weapons in the hands of the state, ensuring the security of the voter and polling centers, and amending the election law with regard to adopting the biometric card "Exclusively", and before that, approving the Federal Court law and its formation, and granting sufficient time to the Electoral Commission to complete its logistical and technical procedures, in the midst of all this; A special source in the Elections Commission stated that mobile teams seeking to update data by visiting homes are witnessing a “rejection” and reluctance of citizens, which is a dangerous indicator that reflects the state of despair and despair from the entire political process, which should be seriously considered.

According to the election law, the parliament must dissolve itself two months before the date of the elections, but the parliament has not yet decided (the Federal Court Law) and it is the only body that can ratify the election results and give it legal legitimacy, and the remainder of the parliament is two and a half months The month - and if the June 6 deadline is approved - can Parliament finish all the legal implications for holding elections?

The question was answered by Hussein Al-Uqabi, a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, in an exclusive interview with Al-Sabah, indicating that “the June elections have become almost impossible. As there are expectations and intentions to amend the election law and limit voting to the biometric card, voting in accordance with the applicable law by biometric in addition to the electronic card.

Noting that "according to some leaks, there are missing electronic cards and an investigation is underway. Therefore, we will work and press for amending the law and restricting voting to biometric, and we will give the commission a procedural opportunity by expanding the distribution of this card."

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Saleh and Kazemi stress the need for the elections to succeed

Tuesday 19 January 2021 52

 

Baghdad: Morning

 

 

The Presidents of the Republic, Barham Salih and Ministers, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, stressed the need to support all measures necessary to make the upcoming elections a success, prevent fraud and manipulation, and seriously invite international observers in coordination with the relevant department in the United Nations mission, and to ensure the opportunity for broad participation in the elections.

The two sides stressed, according to a presidential statement, "the necessity to consolidate stability in the country, to preserve the security and safety of citizens, to strengthen the authority of the security services and law enforcement, to protect community peace and security, to prevent illegal acts and to control fugitive weapons." 

The meeting, which was held at the Peace Palace in Baghdad, touched on "the economic conditions in the country and the financial budget, and the two parties agreed on" the importance of passing the draft budget law in a manner that protects the rights and pensions of all Iraqis, especially the low-income social strata, and to reach radical solutions between the federal government and the regional government Kurdistan on the outstanding financial issues in a way that guarantees the rights and salaries of employees.