Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has called on international organizations and Arab and foreign embassies to monitor the electoral process, scheduled for June 6.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has provided the Commission with 52 Arab and foreign embassies and 19 international organizations to be invited to monitor stages of the electoral process, IHEC Spokesperson Jumana al-Ghalai said in statements on Sunday.
The total number of applications by parties registered at the Commission has amounted to 438, including the approved 230 parties and 62 applications for parties under establishment, Ghalai noted.
She pointed to 128 rejected applications for parties and 17 withdrawn requests of registration.
The phenomenon of the abundance of political parties and alliances has been associated with overthrowing former President Saddam Hussein’s regime and the Baath regime after 2003.
Under the 2015 Political Parties Law, a party’s founding body shall be constituted of at least seven members, with no less than 2000 members from different governorates, provided that women's representation is taken into account.
It also stipulates that it shall include at least 500 members of the parties representing the ethnic components (minorities).
On the number of citizens eligible to participate in the upcoming elections, Ghalai said 25,139, 375 voters will take part in the general elections.
“Around 15 million voters have biometrically registered for the polls,” she added, noting that the almost 13 million biometric cards have been distributed so far.
The Iraqi government has recently launched a wide campaign to urge citizens to update their records and obtain their biometric cards to prevent fraud during elections.
It also required public sector employees to update their data in 1,079 centers.
The IHEC has mentioned an increase in the number of people who want to update their data on holidays to ensure they participate in the elections.
Regarding the issue of the displaced people and the possibility of their participation in the elections, Ghalai said the Ministry of Migration and Displaced has provided the Commission with updated information on the displaced in Nineveh, Anbar, Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah governorates.
She stated that the IHEC registered 838 displaced Iraqis.
