Jordan Times
Friday, January 29, 2010
Iraqi electoral body opens
office in Jordan
By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Thursday
opened a representation office in the Kingdom, which will be tasked with
overseeing the voting process for the country’s Iraqi residents, an official
said on Thursday.
“Officials representing the governments of the two countries held discussions
over the past few days on the mechanisms of conducting the elections in Jordan
on March 7 for Iraqi residents. The talks resulted in Jordan’s approval to open
eight polling stations in Amman, Zarqa and Irbid,” Minister of State for Media
Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Nabil Sharif told The
Jordan Times Thursday.
Jordan will take all necessary measures to help Iraqi residents in the Kingdom
cast their votes in the forthcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections, slated inside
Iraq for March 9, Sharif stressed.
“The government, based on His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives, will ensure
that the voting process is carried out in a very peaceful and comfortable
manner. Our role will only be as a facilitator; we will not take part in the
organisation of the voting system,” the minister said.
“Jordan is the first Arab country to give Iraqi citizens the chance to cast
their votes. This is the second time that we have allowed Iraqis living in the
Kingdom to exercise their constitutional right to vote, as the first time was
during the 2005 elections,” he added, pointing out that the government has no
worries about this event and will provide all the needed security.
Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Saad Hayyani told The Jordan Times Thursday that all
Iraqis aged 18 years and above are eligible to participate in the upcoming Iraqi
elections.
“All they need to bring is their passports and other Iraqi IDs in order to
exercise their right to vote. There are no ready voters’ lists,” Hayyani said,
adding that the Iraqi government highly appreciates King Abdullah’s directives
to the government to facilitate the voting process for Iraqis living in the
Kingdom.
He said that the IHEC will announce in the Jordanian media the steps Iraqis need
to take in order to vote and the documents they need to provide, adding that a
second meeting will be held between officials from the two countries to follow
up on the issue and identify the number and location of the polling stations,
which will be close to neighbourhoods in the three major cities with the largest
Iraqi population.
“Based on the official figure of Iraqis in Jordan announced by the Jordanian
government in 2007, which stood at around 450,000, we expect the number of
eligible voters to range between 100,000-150,000,” the Iraqi envoy said.
Meanwhile, acting Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Nayef Qadi received
the Iraqi government spokesperson, Ali Dabbagh, who arrived in Amman on Tuesday
carrying a letter to Prime Minister Samir Rifai from his Iraqi counterpart Nouri
Maliki.
During the meeting, which was also attended by Sharif and Hayyani, Qadi said a
strong, stable and secure Iraq is in the best interest of Jordan, the region and
the whole world, stressing that the Kingdom will continue to “carry out its
duties in supporting Iraq”.
The IHEC was established in 2004 as the Independent Election Commission of Iraq
and in 2007, it was renamed. Its work is overseen by the parliament.