Jordan Times
Thursday, February 25, 2010
‘Jordan will ensure safe and
efficient Iraqi elections’
By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - Jordan will take all measures needed to ensure that Iraqi citizens in
the Kingdom cast their votes safely and smoothly in the upcoming Iraqi
parliamentary elections, the government said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the ministers of finance and health,
Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government
Spokesperson Nabil Sharif said yesterday that the government will not interfere
in the Iraqi election and will facilitate the voting process for Iraqi citizens.
According to various estimates, between 400,000-500,000 Iraqis are living in
Jordan, fleeing their country due to unstable security conditions after the war
broke out in 2003, and between 180,000 and 200,000 of them are estimated to be
eligible to vote.
The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has called on Iraqis in
Jordan aged above 18 years to practise their constitutional right by casting
their votes in the upcoming elections, which will last for three days starting
March 5, and asked those with overstay fines not to fear the police who will be
in the vicinity of the polling centres.
“The government was instructed by His Majesty King Abdullah to allow all Iraqis
living in the Kingdom to participate in the upcoming elections. We are not
concerned at the moment with any technicalities other than securing a safe
environment for them to vote,” Sharif said during the press conference.
Earlier this month, officials representing the governments of the two countries
held discussions on mechanisms for conducting the elections in Jordan.
The talks resulted in the opening of a representation office for the IHEC in the
Kingdom, which is tasked with overseeing the voting process for the country’s
Iraqi residents.
According to the commission, around 1,000 IHEC officials will staff 16 election
centres and 150 polling stations in four governorates across the Kingdom. The
election centres will be distributed in regions with the highest concentrations
of Iraqi residents, including 11 in Amman, two in Zarqa, two in Irbid and one in
Madaba.