The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) fielded election observers across the world for the poll held over the last three days to allow expatriate Iraqi citizens to cast their votes for the new Transitional National AssAssembly. Observers were present at polling stations in Canada, Germany, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Sweden, and the United States of America.

The IPU is currently observing the vote count taking place in countries where expatriate Iraqis have voted.

Although it is too early to draw any conclusions from the operation as a whole, the IPU Secretary General, Anders B. Johnsson, stated in Amman (Jordan), that he was satisfied with the way the polling had occurred, noting that "in all the stations from which we have received initial reports, the observers were highly impressed with the arrangements made to organise the poll and with the orderly and peaceful way in which voting took place".

The out-of-country elections are being organised in Amman by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at the request of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), based in Baghdad.

"Congratulations are due, first and foremost to all the Iraqi citizens who went out and voted", said the Secretary General. "I should add that IOM has clearly done an excellent job in a very short space of time".

The IPU has committed itself to providing support for the constitutional process in Iraq. Last year the Union convened a meeting of the Speakers of all the region’s parliaments, which was held in the Jordanian capital, at the invitation of the parliament of Jordan. At that event, the Speakers declared unequivocally that it was for the Iraqi people freely to choose their own institutions, and noted that the IPU was ready to assist as required. As soon as the Union was mandated by its Executive Committee to observe the poll, it requested its Member Parliaments in the countries concerned to select parliamentarians to travel to polling stations and observe the procedures.

The IPU President, Senator Sergio Páez, who is currently in the Middle East, said that he was pleased with the parliamentary response, stating, "I want to thank the parliaments which responded so quickly to our call, which meant that the IPU was one of the few international observers of the elections". He went on to note that "the Inter-Parliamentary Union can be proud of its contribution, and we will be reporting in detail on this poll once we have received all of the national reports. We will also be sharing our findings with the International Mission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE), a group headed by Elections Canada".

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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