By Suleiman al-Khalidi
Reuters, 16 December 2005
AMMAN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Foreign election monitors said on Friday that Iraq's elections met international standards despite some irregularities.
"I think by and large we have come to the conclusion that basically the election and the process in place conforms to international standards," Paul Dacey, Vice Chair of the International Mission for Iraqi Election's (IMIE) steering committee, told Reuters in Amman.
The Canada-based multinational group of experts was based in Jordan but supervised hundreds of foreign observers and domestic monitors in Iraq.
"We have had reports of technical glitches. Any election has those but there are no gross violations we were aware of... things might come out in the next few days and we will be monitoring that," Dacey said.
Dacey said the IMIE was heartened by reports the turnout was higher than in an October constitutional referendum and by the widespread participation of disaffected Sunni Arabs.
"Reports are saying more than two thirds (turnout) ...if that's the case it's very encouraging and of course the participation of the Sunnis," he said.
The UN backed Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) had performed well, he said, before and after the relatively peaceful poll that was in sharp contrast to January's elections, when 40 people died.
"There has been an improvement in outreach and voter education. Obviously the turnout is very encouraging as well," Dacey said.
"It's three electoral events in one year. This is a big ask even for well established democracies. They have had a sharp learning curve and they certainly have shown us they have increased their capacity", he added.
"They have listened to us and to others and made improvements," said Dacey, who is deputy commissioner of the Australian Electoral Commission.
The elections were smooth despite reports of logistical problems in the Sunni Arab western desert province of Anbar, Dacey said.
"It wasn't a flawless election. Not all elections are flawless even in established democracies. There are issues but they were planned very well. They are aware there were troublespots," Dacey said.
Unlike January's election when only a few foreign monitors were sent due to security concerns, the IMIE this time was able to deploy many more experts inside Iraq.
"We had about 55 in country and bearing in mind the security situation it was a pretty good effort to have 55 people in place. Last time when we only had a handful," Dacey said.
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Citation: Suleiman al-Khalidi. "International monitors praise Iraqi elections," Reuters, 16 December 2005.
Original URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1530889.htm
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