Iraq: International Security Council studies election monitoring

 INA - Baghdad

Iraq is studying and selecting what is best in electoral observation projects submitted by a group of countries, said Prime Minister’s Adviser for Elections Affairs, Abdul-Hussein Al-Hindawi an exclusive interview with Iraqi News Agency – INA.

"The UN Security Council is currently studying the decision of international monitoring of the process for the Iraqi elections, in addition to great interest for a group of countries, through which several projects were presented, related to electoral monitoring," he added and pointed out that "Iraq is in the process of studying these projects and choosing the best ones,"

"The criteria for studying the submitted monitoring projects, depend on what protects national sovereignty on one hand, and achieves good monitoring of the election process on the other hand," he included while stressing the importance of electoral observation to restore confidence in the electoral process by citizens.

He went on saying, "The electoral process does not take place without guarantees, including automation and an attempt to keep the hand as far as possible from interfering in the electoral process, biometric voting stages, and even results in a way that paves the way for accurate electoral control"

Al-Hindawi identified three levels of oversight, the first being party oversight for all participants in the electoral contest, the second national monitoring is one of the monitoring networks that have excellent experience in monitoring the elections, as the total of these networks reached 20,000 professional Iraqi observers, and new networks can also be created and supported within this level for lawyers, judges, thinkers, and writers, as for the third level, international oversight, and it is administered by the United Nations.

"It is necessary to restore confidence in the electoral process by activating the political party’s law and providing security to ensure better elections and clearer credibility," he added.