The head of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said today that extending the work of the commission will disrupt the upcoming elections in both the country and the provincial councils, calling for the formation of a new commission to be speeded up.
The Council of Representatives voted to extend the work of the current electoral commission for another three months, except Gorran bloc which refused to vote. According to law, the work of the commission is expected to end on April 28 and an alternative commission is supposed to continue the work.

Head of the commission Faraj al-Haidari said that it is difficult to organize schedules and preparations for the upcoming elections amid such confusion.

"The Council of Representatives is expected to form the commission as soon as possible instead of the extension in order to allow the new members to begin their work where there should not be a cut in the election process because it would disrupt the coming elections.

"The Swedish Foreign Ministry expressed yesterday its concern about what happened during the past few days about my detention, the functioning of the commission, the issue of the extension and the coming election."

Haidari and commission member Karim al-Tamimi were detained on April 12 and freed after three days in relation to financial corruption charges dating back to 2008. The case is related to giving commission employees bonuses amounting to $85.76 (100,000 IQD) as well as giving "financial support" to six people in the real estate deed office of Biyaa district.






AKnews