Iraqi parliamentary committee explores extending IHEC term for upcoming elections

Shafaq News /Member of the Legal Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, Dara Siyekanyani, suggested today, Sunday, extending the term of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) of Iraq, citing the necessity related to the elections of the unorganized provincial councils in the Kurdistan Region (KRI) and the Kurdistan Parliament elections.

Siyekanyani told Shafaq News Agency that "the legal committee in the Iraqi parliament held a meeting with the IHEC to discuss the Kurdistan Parliament elections, and they confirmed their readiness to hold them on their scheduled date on February 25th next year. He also confirmed the continuation of meetings with the relevant authorities in KRI.

Regarding the parliament entering its legislative recess before extending the time for the commission, he confirmed that "members of the parliament or the Speaker of the Parliament can call for a session at any time to vote on extending the term of the commission." He noted that "members of the Iraqi parliament have initiated collecting signatures to extend the term of the IHEC."

He added that "the need to extend the term of the commission is not limited to the issue of holding Kurdistan Parliament elections but may also be required for the elections of the unorganized provincial councils in the Region, which will take place on December 18th. Usually, announcing the results takes about a month, which means that the commission cannot announce the results if its legal period expires, and therefore the results are not announced. This is another reason to extend the term of the IHEC. Therefore, it is expected that an emergency meeting will be held to extend the term of the commission, especially since the majority in parliament is expected to participate in the elections of the provincial councils."