ACTING SRSG EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER ELECTION LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003605

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: ACTING SRSG EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER ELECTION LAW
AND UNAMI OUTREACH PROGRAM FOR DRAFT CONSTITUTION


Classified By: AMBASSADOR ZALMAY KHALILZAD FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d)

1.(C) Summary. Acting Special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General (A/SRSG) Michael von der Schulenburg told

SIPDIS
the Ambassador September 1 that UNAMI needed a final version
of the draft constitution in order to conduct its outreach
program via the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Schulenburg expressed concern that the election law, if
passed, may prove too difficult to actually implement in time
for the December 15 election. He also said he was weighing
the appropriate level of UN involvement in Kirkuk issues.
End summary.


2. (C) A/SRSG Michael von der Schulenburg told the Ambassador
that UNAMI will not be able to conduct its planned outreach
program via the PDS due to ongoing changes to the draft
permanent constitution. As a key component of its outreach
program, Schulenburg said that UNAMI planned to use the PDS
to deliver a copy of the draft constitution to virtually
every Iraqi household so the electorate could review the
draft prior to the referendum. Schulenburg said that UNAMI
could only proceed with the PDS outreach program if it
received formal authorization from the TNA to release a final
draft.


3. (C) The Ambassador noted that Sunni representatives are
engaged with the Kurds and Shi'a concerning textual
adjustments that could result in broader Sunni support for
the constitution at the referendum. The Ambassador
emphasized that this is an Iraqi process, and that the
international community needs to support the Iraqi efforts to
arrive at an agreeable text.


4. (C) Schulenburg said he was concerned about the pending
election law, and said that the law, if passed as now
drafted, may be impossible to implement prior to the December
15 elections. He added that the agreements made by the key
parties in the past few weeks are now being ignored, and that
too many key actors are out of the country and unavailable to
get the law back on track. He added that the current draft
of the election law only requires that one in four candidates
on party lists be women. He cautioned that this would be
insufficient to guarantee that women would constitute 25
percent of Assembly membership. He also said that Deputy
Speaker Shahristani had raised concerns about the scheme for
distributing the 45 compensatory seats, due to fear that the
Kurds would manipulate this provision. The Ambassador
stressed the importance of passage of an election law that
best serves all Iraqis, and urged the UN to continue pressing
the IECI to clarify these key issues.


5. (C) Regarding Kirkuk, Schulenburg said he was trying to
determine the level of UN involvement on Kirkuk issues.
While the rest of Iraq experienced somewhat small increases
in registered voters during the August voter registration
update campaign, he said the campaign recorded approximately
100,000 new registrations in Kirkuk. He also expressed
concern over the lack of progress on Kirkuk claims submitted
to the Iraqi Property Claims Commission.
Khalilzad