KRG ELECTIONS UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001371 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2019 TAGS: IZ KDEM PGOV SUBJECT: KRG ELECTIONS UPDATE REF: A. A. BAGHDAD 1295 ¶B. B. BAGHDAD 1288 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor John Fox for reasons 1.4 (d). ¶1. (U) Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) reports that it has certified 42 political entities and 528 candidates in advance of the elections for the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament (IKP),scheduled for July 25. Of the 42 political parties, 15 have formed themselves into five coalitions: the Service and Repair List, the Chaldeans' consolidated list, the Autonomous list of Chaldean Syriac Assyrians, the Freedom and Social Justice list, and the Kurdistan list (which is composed of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party). The Kurdistan list is expected to win the elections (see reftel A). ¶2. (U) Per the KRG election law, 11 component seats are set aside for minorities. Five seats are designated for Christians, five for Turkomans, and seat for an Armenian candidate (see reftel B). IHEC reports that there are 20 candidates for the Christian seats, 20 candidates for the Turkoman seats, and three for the Armenian seat. ¶3. (U) Voter registration in the KRG began on May 25 and will continue for two weeks. The International Electoral Assistance Team (IEAT) reports that all 89 Voter Registration Centers (VRCs) were open and that 1,843 people checked the status of their voter registration. IHEC will make 254 changes to the voter list (including additions, subtractions, changes and corrections) based on yesterday's results. IEAT estimates that there are roughly 2.5 million eligible voters in the three provinces of the KRG. ¶4. (C) UNAMI Electoral Advisor Sandra Mitchell informs us that, with about eight weeks to go, IHEC has not yet received the funding it needs to prepare for the IKP and presidential elections. While PM Maliki authorized the funding last month, bureaucratic delays (which are a chronic problem for all GOI agencies) continue to stall delivery of the funds. IHEC estimates that the KRG elections will cost a total of $90 million; the IEAT hopes to see a first tranche of $40 million this week to pay on contracts that will be coming due. The IEAT reports that the IHEC Board of Commissioners seems confident that the funds will arrive on time, but it is clear that the IEAT is anxious to get this matter settled. HILL