EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner urges wide participation in Iraqi elections

Tomorrow, December 15th, the Iraqi people will go to the polls to choose their representatives for the next four years. This is a major step in a political transition that began with Iraq's first pluralist elections last January, and which has included the drafting of a new Constitution, and the approval of that Constitution by referendum this autumn. On the eve of the elections, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said "I hope all Iraqis will make full use of their new-won democratic rights, and participate in these historic elections. The Commission trusts the Iraqi government will do its utmost to guarantee a fully transparent and inclusive electoral process so that these elections can take Iraq another step towards establishing political structures that represent all Iraqis". She added "This is a critical moment for Iraq and I hope all political and religious leaders will call for a halt to the violence that has taken so many lives and slowed the country's transition. The result we all want to see in tomorrow's election is the victory of democracy over violence for the sake of all the Iraqi people".

The European Commission has been a key supporter of the political process in Iraq. Working hand in hand with the UN and the International Electoral Commission for Iraq (IECI), it has provided over €80 million and technical experts to support the practical preparation of the January 2005 elections, the Constitutional Referendum, held last October, and for tomorrow's elections. It has also provided substantial support to the IECI in several key aspects of the preparatory process, including outreach efforts and the training of domestic electoral observers.

For the upcoming legislative elections, the Commission has deployed EU experts to assist the work of the IECI. It has also mobilised additional electoral experts to train personnel nominated by EU Member States to follow voting procedures on election day in a number of polling centres. They will also assist the International Mission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE), which will coordinate this limited monitoring exercise in compliance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, recently approved and adopted under the auspices of the United Nations.

For additional information on EU-Iraq relations see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/iraq/intro/index.htm

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