ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — In a phone call with the United Nations (UN) secretary general, Iraqi President Barham Salih said that there needs to be “serious work” between the UN and the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq (IHEC) ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections scheduled for October. The “Iraqi President highlighted that there should be serious work and effective coordination between the UN and the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq (IHEC) to ensure monitoring and the oversight of the elections and to make sure that the ballot process was conducted freely and fairly,” read a statement from the Iraqi presidency released on Monday. “In this way, we can ensure a large turn-out at the elections so that voters could freely express their will to choose their representatives in the next Iraqi Parliament, thereby guaranteeing Iraq's sovereignty and respecting the Iraqi independent decision,” added the statement. Iraq had initially planned to hold early elections on June 6. However, in January, Iraq’s Council of Ministers decided to postpone elections to October 10. Early elections were one of the demands made at protests that began in October 2019 across central and southern Iraq. Kadhimi asked the high electoral commission in November to take “all necessary measures” to ensure the elections will be held as scheduled, and should “continuously work to guarantee a successful election.” The delay of elections from June 6 to October 10 "is not a deviation from the principle of an early election, for it will happen in any case, and we have not compromised on early elections for it is popular demand supported by the Marja [Shiite religious authority] and it is part of the government's program," Kadhimi said at the time. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani previously sent a letter to the UN secretary general ahead of upcoming UN security council (UNSC) meetings dedicated to discussing the extension of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq's (UNAMI) mandate, which is due to expire at the end of May. President Barzani asked that UNAMI be tasked with observing Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections. “UNAMI can play a significant role in making sure the upcoming elections take place in a -- fair and transparent manner,” reads the letter. “As part of UNAMI's election observation, special attention needs to be given to Kirkuk and the disputed territories under Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution.”
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