Iraqi parliamentary elections kickoff in the UAE

By Ribal Dayekh in Dubai
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-03-05

[KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images] An Iraqi expatriate casts her ballot for the Iraqi general election at a polling station in Dubai on March 5th, 2010

Iraqi parliamentary elections kicked off Friday (March 5th), an event which is considered to be the most significant accomplishment since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

In a statement from The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Uday Talal Mahmoud Al-Taai, manager of the Commission's UAE office, said that all logistical preparations have been made to ensure the success of the electoral process, which will continue until March 7th, 2010. Voting starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m.

In an exclusive statement to Al-Shorfa, Al-Taai said that "the preparations started immediately upon his arrival to the UAE on February 2nd, which mainly consisted of finding a location for the main administrative office and two voting centres. Following this, ads were placed at the Consulate General of the Republic of Iraq in Dubai, at the Embassy of Iraq in Abu Dhabi, and on the official website of the IHEC, recruiting individuals to work during the parliamentary elections. Four hundred people responded, among whom 220 were recruited."

He added that arrangements have been made between the Iraqi embassy and the UAE authorities regarding the choice of the locations. "We chose to set up two centres in the country. One is located at Hall No.11 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre in the capital. The second one is in the reception hall of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is also the main administrative office. The voting centre in Abu Dhabi contains 11 voting stations while the one in Dubai has 15 stations. These voting centres will be open to Iraqis living in the Gulf, especially those living in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait."

Regarding the estimated number of voters, Al-Taai said, "We don't have accurate statistics on the number of voters, but we have used statistics from the International Organisation for Migration, which is a United Nations agency, from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, and the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration. These statistics indicate that the number of voters in the UAE only is approximately 94,000, but official UAE sources said the number varies between 60,000 and 70,000 voters."

Individuals who have the Iraqi nationality and were born before December 31, 1992 are eligible to vote, but they must provide proof of residence in the Gulf, according to Al-Taai. "They also have to provide two documents, one carrying their photo and the other one indicating the province they belong to."

Concerning the measures taken to prevent voting fraud, Al-Taai said that "the preparations that have been completed yesterday started on February 16th, and they consisted of training two categories of election workers, namely the polling station managers and information officers. They underwent training which included going through various scenarios in mock elections."

Every station is equipped with curtains and screens in order to ensure voter privacy. Also, 97 observers from the various political groups in Iraq will help in monitoring the elections in the UAE in addition to international observers and representatives from the Arab League and civil society organisations such as the Iraq Labour Council in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to Al-Taai.

The commission has already supplied the ballot boxes, special ink and other materials. The election data will be input and cross-checked every day in order to prevent repeat voting. All of this applies to the 16 countries where election centres have been opened.

Al-Taai said that the UAE authorities will provide security outside the election centres. He expected the logistical process to end by March 9th, which is the date when the election data will be sent to the central office of the IHEC in Erbil, after which the counting will start on March 10th or 11th.

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