The Iraqi elections ... between the hammer of the United Nations and the anvil of uncontrolled weapons

There have been many opinions and questions about the importance and necessity of international and international monitoring of the early Iraqi elections, with the approaching date set for next June, and their role in preserving their integrity and transparency, in light of the security, economic and political complexities in the country;

With the proliferation of weapons, the continuation of angry mass protests, and the intensification of competition between the parties that have held power for the past 17 years.

Any meeting of Iraqi officials with Hennis Blasshardt, the envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, was not without the emphasis on the need for the United Nations and international organizations to supervise the upcoming elections, in a move that observers placed in the category of fear of changing the reality of the results, or diverting their course under the threat of arms and foreign interference.

Earlier this month, the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, approved the new election law after the parliament voted on it, dividing the governorates into electoral districts on the basis of districts and cities, and every 100,000 inhabitants in those cities had a parliamentary seat, and in case the number of the population of the district decreased About 100 thousand are merged with a neighboring district to avoid this problem.

SRSG Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert was received today in #Baghdad by President of the Republic of #Iraq, Dr.

Barham Salih.

They discussed the political & security situation in the country, notably preparations for the upcoming early elections & the fight against remaining ISIL cells pic.twitter.com/8Hr2h4PGxW

- UNAMI (@UNIraq) November 14, 2020

These developments come at a time when Iraq is experiencing a legal crisis after a disruption of the quorum of the Federal Supreme Court, which is the highest legal body in the country competent to separate legal disputes between authorities and ratification of election results.

Prime Minister @Makadhimi receives the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq @JeanineHennis, where they discussed ways to hold early elections in Iraq next June, and ensure international monitoring of them, to ensure transparent, fair and fair elections that fulfill the aspirations of the Iraqi people.

pic.twitter.com/jIuxdK1ivT

- Media Office of the Prime Minister (@IraqiPMO) November 15, 2020

The demand for international monitoring of the Iraqi elections was widely welcomed to prevent fraud, especially in areas under the control of militias and armed groups affiliated with some political parties, and the government is unable to block it or prevent its expansion, with calls to cancel the old voter card and rely on the new updated "biometric". Biometric data aiding in identification;

Like fingerprints and fingerprints, the bearer had to personally come to the polling station to cast his vote, unlike the old ones whose attendance is not required.

Ramadan considered that international monitoring helps to achieve the integrity of the elections by supervising the course of the process (Al-Jazeera Net)

Defining and preventing violations

. International monitoring is defined as informing the international community about the progress of the democratic process in the countries that request it.

To determine the extent of its agreement with international standards of democracy, and the extent to which it expresses the will of the people, as it is known as procedures that are objective and impartial by persons who have been formally assigned to practice follow-up, control and fact-finding work about the correctness of the conduct and conduct of the electoral process, and verify the cases that indicate the occurrence of Any violations, provided that this is done according to the applicable regulations and laws, as defined by the judge and legal expert, Abdul Sattar Ramadan.

International monitoring achieves integrity for the elections through the various missions to supervise the conduct of the electoral process and follow up on the details of those processes in different countries, at their request, as Ramadan says in his response to a question by Al-Jazeera Net about the impact of international monitoring on the integrity of the elections or not.

He said that these processes evaluate the elections and give them the character of integrity and freedom through the reports issued by them, and the positive and negative aspects of the electoral process are also explained, describing them as the most important tasks adopted by the international community to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections.

The presence of observers representing prominent international bodies such as the United Nations or other organizations or even non-governmental organizations prevents the occurrence of violations and abuses or at least minimizes them, and gives confidence - according to Ramadan - in the legitimacy of the elections, and is considered a catalyst in supporting the public of voters, as well as the parties based on the elections And the official authority in the state.

Al-Janabi stipulated the presence of a trusted international party to monitor the elections to reassure the Iraqi people (Al-Jazeera Net)

Conditions for representing the people

International monitoring contributes to the establishment of a democratic system of government through the interest shown by the international community in order to consolidate and strengthen democratic principles by achieving a set of principles.

Perhaps the most prominent and most important of them is the principle of respecting human rights, in addition to strengthening the principle of the rule of law and respect for political will, according to the legal expert, stressing the need for international monitoring to perform its task in evaluating the electoral process in accordance with the international principles observed in democratic elections and in national laws.

After the recent developments in Iraq on the political and economic levels, the legitimacy of the current political system is dependent on early elections, the proportion of justice that will be guaranteed by the government, and its realization of the Iraqi people after all the crises and problems they have faced, according to the political and academic analyst Muhannad Al-Janabi, who accused the forces The Iraqi politician details the election law according to its desires, after many of them lost their legitimacy with the people.

Al-Janabi stipulated the presence of a trusted party from the international powers or the United Nations to supervise and monitor the elections.

In order to ensure its credibility, and to convey a message to the Iraqi people that early elections will achieve what they want in terms of justice and representation, even if it is at a very modest rate.

Fugitive weapons

and several elements related to each other in the integrity of the elections, and not only the existence of international oversight and supervision, but also the disarmament of the loose weapons, and the attempt to neutralize it and not make it affect the decision of the Iraqi voter at least, along with other legislative annexes;

Most notably, the political parties law, according to al-Janabi’s response to a question by Al-Jazeera Net about the impact of fugitive weapons on the electoral process.

Al-Janabi criticized the new election law, which has not yet defined the electoral mechanism: Will it be via the old card or biometric?

In addition to the sums to be paid by the new candidates and entities in the absence of political money for many of them, in contrast to what the traditional forces possess, in conjunction with changing the election map after it became individual, and not based on lists.

Al-Saeedi considered that the presence of international monitoring would curb the interference of regional countries in the Iraqi elections (Al-Jazeera Net)

External exploitation and

about the possibility that influential regional and external countries in Iraqi affairs will take advantage of the international monitoring of the direction of the elections. Naji Al-Saeedi - a deputy in the Iraqi parliament for the "Sairoun" bloc led by Muqtada Al-Sadr - says that the international presence - especially the United Nations and international organizations - restrains the ambitions Regional states and external interference and their effects in order to distort the election results in Iraq.

Al-Saeedi believes - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that the presence of the United Nations and its supervision of the Iraqi elections contributes to confirming its positive details, and enhances its transparency to convey the true picture of the Iraqi elections to the world.