COALITION AND CANDIDATE REGISTRATION DEADLINE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004321 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2015 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM IZ SUBJECT: COALITION AND CANDIDATE REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 28 Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford, for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (U) The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) announced October 19 that the IECI Board of Directors has approved extending both the political coalition and the political candidate registration deadline from October 21 to October 28. The IECI has produced a press release announcing this change. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: In an October 19 meeting, prior to issuance of the announcement, UN EAD chief Carina Perelli told the Charge that the election coalition registration deadline could be moved forward by only a few days due to the amount of time needed for ballot design, production, shipment and distribution. However, she confirmed that the deadline for candidate lists could be moved forward by as much as two weeks (i.e., to November 4). Perelli said the IECI might not initially extend the candidate list deadline to the latest possible date, as Iraq's disorganized political parties were likely to take all time afforded to them, and more, to identify candidates. Satterfield