The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will observe the elections that will take place in countries where more than one million Iraqis living outside their homeland are eligible to regisregister to vote for the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq.

Since it adopted a resolution on Iraq, the IPU has made it clear that it is ready to contribute to the constitutional process in Iraq. "In May 2004, the IPU organised a meeting of Speakers of Parliaments of the countries neighbouring Iraq where the Speakers underlined that it is for the Iraqi people – and the Iraqi people only – to determine their future", said the IPU President, Chilean Senator Sergio Páez.

"In the absence of any reasonable possibility of observing the elections inside Iraq, where there are no guarantees for the security of observers, the IPU has concluded that the most valuable contribution it can make to the process is to observe the out-of-country polls and to provide assistance to the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq", declared the IPU Secretary General Anders B. Johnsson.

The world organisation of parliaments has registered as an observer with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), which has mandated the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to organise the out-of-country poll. Legislators from IPU member parliaments and IPU staff will be present in many of the 14 countries in which these polls will be held : Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The IPU observer mission will be working in close cooperation with the International Mission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE), set up by Elections Canada, with which it will be sharing its evaluations of the elections.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 140 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Tel. +41 22 919 41 16/27 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org