Memo: Iraq: Kurdistan Regional Elections – Commission deploys electoral experts

In response to an invitation from the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq and to further contribute to enhancing transparency and confidence in the electoral process in the whole of the country, the European Commission deployed two electoral experts to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the framework of the 2009 Regional Elections, scheduled to be held on 25 July 2009. The mandate of the electoral experts was to provide inputs for confidence-enhancing steps, during and after the elections. They will undertake a detailed analysis on the ongoing electoral process in the region and report to relevant electoral stakeholders in Iraq and to the European Union institutions. Public statements from the experts about the election are not foreseen. The deployment of the electoral experts was financed under the European Instrument for Human rights and Democracy. This electoral assistance was a natural follow up to the deployment of electoral experts to the Provincial elections in January 2009 and the Commission’s support to the political process in Iraq since 2005, to which the Commission has been one of the major international donors with more than €80 million.

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