Jordan Times
Sunday, March 28, 2010
‘Iraqi elections in Jordan
conducted soundly’
By Taylor Luck
AMMAN - Although final results of the Iraqi parliamentary elections have been
announced, election authorities have yet to disclose the final polling numbers
for those who voted in the Kingdom, but indicated that the validity of election
procedures in Jordan has not been challenged.
According to Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) officials in
Amman, the commission has yet to release the breakdown of voting trends abroad,
indicating that around 24,000 cast their ballots in Amman earlier this month.
There have been no challenges regarding the manner in which the polls were
conducted in the Kingdom, they indicated.
During the three-day election period between March 5 and 7, a majority of Iraqi
voters in Jordan told The Jordan Times that improving security conditions in
their homeland to pave way for their return was their top priority. Many voters
indicated that Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya coalition would do the best job, due to the
list’s cross-sectarian appeal, while some said they preferred Nouri Maliki’s
State of Law Alliance to continue the current progress in security.
Allawi’s list was extremely active during the elections, sending dozens of poll
monitors and paying for dozens of buses in Amman, Irbid, Madaba and Zarqa to
transport Iraqi guests to polling centres.
Meanwhile, a study released by a regional organisation on out-of-country voting
in Arab countries revealed that there were few complaints in the process, which
was monitored extensively by political and foreign observers.
A report released by Arab Election Watch, which represents 50 civil society
organisations in 14 countries, found few lapses, mostly regarding opening
stations on time and staff shortages.
The report noted that a vast majority of monitors represented Iraqi political
entities, far outnumbering those representing embassies and NGOs.
The network, which had 14 teams of 55 observers monitoring Iraqi polls abroad,
recommended improving the process of updating the voter list in future elections
and increasing the number of IHEC staff.
The US State Department has also expressed support for election procedures and
urged parties to accept the results of the election, in which 6,292 candidates
belonging to 86 different political entities and coalitions ran.
According to the commission, over 270,000 Iraqi expatriates participated in the
elections in 16 countries.