A European Team to Monitor Iraqi Elections
The European Union announces the dispatch of a team to monitor the Iraqi legislative elections, and the Electoral Commission reveals measures that will be taken on polling day.
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A European team heads to monitor the Iraqi elections
The European Union announced sending a team to monitor the Iraqi legislative elections scheduled for the tenth of next month in response to an invitation from the Electoral Commission.
The head of the observer team said that the elections constitute a milestone in the course of building democracy in Iraq.
According to the statement, the team consists of 12 election experts who arrived in Baghdad and Erbil late last month, with 20 others set to join them in the middle of this month. During the election day, the mission will be reinforced with short-term local observers from the diplomatic missions of the European Union Member States present in Iraq.
Simultaneously, the Electoral Commission revealed measures that will be taken on polling day, indicating that it received 6 complaints, some of which have to do with attempts to influence voters' wills. It also pointed out that the total number of printed biometric cards added up to about 17 million and that the number of damaged cards added up to 4,670,000.
The Baghdad Operations Command confirmed that 90% of the cement blocks and barriers in the Iraqi capital have been lifted. Baghdad Operations Commander Lieutenant-General Ahmed Salim said that work is underway to raise the remaining cement blocks and open closed streets, in addition to removing the limited remaining barriers.
Salim pointed out that these measures are a message to the citizen that Baghdad has become safe with the efforts of the intelligence bodies and the Iraqi security forces.
For his part, the Sadrist Movement's candidate, Safa al-Tamimi, confirmed that the movement is on the way to a new stage of combatting corruption that includes 60,000 files.
In an interview for Al Mayadeen, he indicated that demonstrations in Iraq were stolen.
Al-Tamimi also stressed that now is the time for Iraqi diplomacy to implement the decision of ending the US occupation of Iraq, adding that the Movement will make every effort to maintain Iraq's political and sovereign decision.
