VZCZCXRO4073
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0873/01 0891526
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301526Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2466
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000873 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: RRT ERBIL: KURDISTAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES ELECTIONS LAW A 
SECOND TIME 
 
REF:  Baghdad 642 
Baghdad 476 
 
This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable. 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY.  On March 25, the Kurdistan Regional Parliament 
ratified the Kurdistan election law for the second time.  The bill 
is expected to be signed into law shortly with no challenges.  IHEC 
will continue to be the election supervision authority, and 
irregularities will be decided by a council of judges selected by 
the Kurdistan Judicial Council.  A suggestion to move elections to 
an open list system was only supported by 14 members of parliament, 
and the KDP and PUK will run in one combined list.  An election date 
has not yet been selected, but elections will take place sometime 
between April 4 and August 4.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Kurdistan Regional Parliament, led by both the Speaker 
and Deputy Speaker, opened a regular session at 11:00 a.m. on March 
25 to discuss the election law for the second time this year. 
Discussion centered on recommended changes suggested by KR President 
Masoud Barzani, who originally returned the bill to Parliament on 
February 22 with modifications of the first version, which was 
ratified on February 11. (Ref A)  With only one exception, all 
requested changes were accepted, and the bill passed in the March 
25th session.  A follow up session is set for March 30, 2009 at 
11:00 am.  President Barzani is expected to attend and address the 
KNA on issues which include the Kurdistan Regional Election Office 
(KREO,) and other electoral process issues. 
 
¶3.  (U) The one presidential request which was overruled was the 
designation of the body responsible for election supervision. 
President Barzani had asked for KR elections to be placed under the 
total control of the KREO.  According to PUK media's website, 
Speaker Adnan Mufti stated during the session that the Kurdistan 
Region does not currently have a body as capable as IHEC, and that 
it would be too difficult to energize the KREO sufficiently to 
competently carry out elections on time.  (Comment:  This is true. 
RRTOff confirms that the KREO lacks sufficient managerial expertise, 
staff and experience to successful conduct a region-wide election.) 
According to the newly-passed law, IHEC will supervise this round of 
parliamentary elections, but on the condition that future elections 
in the region will be run by the KREO.  Speaker Mufti stated that 
the KR will create a new entity called the Kurdistan Regional 
Elections Commission, which will become Kurdistan's election 
supervision authority and bypassing IHEC involvement in future 
elections. (Note: Some RRT contacts have complained that a KREC is 
unnecessary. They say that the KRG is already paying for the IHEC in 
the sovereign expenses portion of its budget that is automatically 
deducted in Baghdad. They do not believe that it makes sense for the 
KRG to pay twice for electoral monitoring services.) 
 
¶4.  (U) Once the law had been approved, Speaker Mufti also announced 
that IHEC should consider the law "as passed," and should 
immediately begin working on preparations for elections.  However, 
the bill must still go to the President's office for signature to be 
signed into law.  The President should then officially call for 
elections.  According to the new law, elections must occur in the 60 
day window either before or after the expiration of the current 
Parliament, which is on June 4, 2009.  This provision effectively 
forces an election to occur any time between April 4 to August 4 
this year.  But realistically, the election date will also be a 
function of IHEC's capability to quickly prepare for the KR 
Qfunction of IHEC's capability to quickly prepare for the KR 
election, and to release the IHEC budgetary allocation of $50 
million from the GOI.  According to Erbil General Election Officer 
Handreen Salih, IHEC has been expecting these elections for some 
time, and he believes in theory that they could still make the 
originally declared target date of May 19th.  (Note:  IHEC's stated 
policy is to require a 90-day window following a call for elections 
to adequately plan and execute any election.  ) 
 
¶5.  (U) A KIU-affiliated parliamentarian, Tavga Muhamad, told KNN TV 
"The Kurdistan Parliament (KP) should have passed the election law 
one year ago, but the political parties wanted to postpone it." 
Tayga also said that KP members could not freely express themselves, 
and had little authority to force the KDP and PUK to go ahead with 
the election. 
 
Closed Lists again in 2009 
- - - - - - - - - -------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) During the second portion of the parliamentary session, 
ten members submitted a proposal to move the elections to an open 
list system.  The members involved in the proposal were three 
members of the PUK, Othman Banimarani, Gelas Muhialdin Muhamad, and 
Sara Faqe Khidir; two members from the KIG, Hasan Babakr and 
Abdulrahman Ahmad; and 5 members of the KIU, Tavga Muhamad, Sabria 
Ghafar, Othman Ahmad, Khalil Ibrahim and Anwar Muhammad, according 
to Anwar Muhammad of the KIU.  KDP-affiliated Peyamner news 
organization reported that following briefs from the group, Legal 
Committee staff members refused the suggestion on the grounds that 
 
BAGHDAD 00000873  002 OF 002 
 
 
an open list system would adversely affect the KDP/PUK strategic 
agreement.  The measure was called to a vote, and only 14 members of 
parliament voted for open lists.  The 14 members included the 10 
mentioned above, plus an additional four KIU members, Hiwa Mirza 
Sabir, Muhamad Faraj, Fadila Ramadan, and Hama Rashid Mawaty.  63 
members voted to retain the election in a closed list system.  At 
present, the KDP/PUK alliance will present itself in one unified 
list, leaving voters limited opportunities to vote against the 
ruling powers. 
 
 
¶7.  (U) Kurdish laws are first drafted in Arabic, and then 
translated into Kurdish.  The Arabic word used to describe a 
category, party or group, "fi'a," has been changed to "kian siasi," 
which is more closely related to the term "political entity."  This 
is an identical term to the one used in the GOI's COR system.  This 
change permits political parties and independent groupings, such as 
Nawshirwan Mustafa (Ref B) to run on an independent list.  A list 
need only consist of a minimum of three people, of which one must be 
a woman. 
 
¶8.  (U) Other provisions of the new law which will take effect 
include the procedure to submit complaints and irregularities.  The 
Kurdistan Judicial Council will create a committee consisting of 
several judges to investigate any claims, according to Peyamner News 
Agency, and this committee will have final authority to resolve any 
disputes. 
 
¶9.  (U) The new election bill includes the provision that all 
citizens in Iraq who are also legal residents of the KR may vote in 
the election, which includes legal residents of the region living 
outside of Iraq.  Residency is defined as having a national identity 
card that shows the voter is registered to one of the three KR 
provinces. 
 
¶10.  (U) Service workers, such as Ministry of Interior forces, 
Peshmerga, police and hospital workers will be given a special 
voting day 48 hours before the election, according to a report from 
Hawler newspaper.  Prisoners who have been convicted and sentenced 
for less than five years also have the right to vote. 
 
¶11.  (U) It is still unlikely that a constitutional referendum will 
be included with parliamentary elections.  According to Arez 
Abdullah, a PUK-affilated member of parliament, "it is not obvious 
that the Kurdistan Parliament will pass the draft, or when this will 
happen."  However, RRT contacts assert that the draft is indeed 
ready for discussion - it just needs to be scheduled for a hearing 
in parliament. Public hearings on the draft constitution, to be held 
by the legal Committee, are also being discussed 
 
¶12.  (U) Comment:  While it is encouraging to see movement forward 
on holding elections in the Kurdistan Region, it is less encouraging 
to see the form these pre-election processes are taking.  Closed 
lists, a unified list for the two ruling parties and a strategic 
power-sharing agreement, negotiated in advance of any election 
results, effectively undermine progress toward greater civic 
participation and democracy in the Kurdistan Region.  End comment. 
 
 
 
Butenis