TNA NEAR TO CLOSURE ON ELECTION LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003679 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/08/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: TNA NEAR TO CLOSURE ON ELECTION LAW Classified By: Classified by Acting Political Counselor Michael J. Adle r for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Deputy Speaker Sharistani (UIA) and Legal Committee Chairman Mushen Sadoon Abdullah (KDP) expressed confidence to PolOff September 5 that the TNA will pass the Election law within a week. Sadoon predicted that a provision for Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) would be included in the final draft. Shahristani said he preferred to include language affirming the constitutional goal of achieving a minimum 25 percent female representation in the TNA over specific language requiring every third candidate on each party list to be female. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) In a September 5 meeting, Legal Committee Chairman Sadoon told PolOff that a provision for OCV would be added to the final draft of the election law. He also said that a requirement that a candidate reside in the governorate that he/she is contesting would be dropped from the text. Even though several TNA members called for changes in the number of compensatory seats, Sadoon predicted that 45 compensatory seats would be kept, as originally agreed by party leaders. ¶3. (C) Separately, Deputy Speaker Shahristani echoed that demand for OCV was high among TNA members and predicted that the December 15 election would have an OCV provision. With regard to the quota for women, instead of defining the actual mechanism (e.g., requiring every third candidate on each party list to be female),Shahristani said he (1) preferred to include language stating the constitutional goal of achieving a minimum 25 percent female representation in the TNA and (2) to allow the IECI to come up with the necessary regulations. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: The above comments track closely with reports from UNAMI staff based on their discussions with Iraqi political leaders. We will monitor developments closely in the coming days. Satterfield