SITREP: U.S. MONITORS REPORT QUIET AND ORDERLY

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 002000

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IZ PGOV KDEM
SUBJECT: SITREP: U.S. MONITORS REPORT QUIET AND ORDERLY
START TO THE KRG ELECTIONS

REF: BAGHDAD 1998


1. (SBU) Today, July 25, voters in Iraq's autonomous
Kurdistan Region head to the polls to vote for a new regional
parliament and to participate in the first popular election
of a Kurdistan president. This election is the first Iraqi
Kurdistan Parliament election since January 30, 2005. In
that race, the coalition of the Kurdistan Democratic Party
(KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) won 104 of
the IKP's 111 seats. While today's election may slightly
shift the political balance of the IKP, the KDP-PUK coalition
is expected to retain its majority. Political analysts
predict that newly formed Change List party, headed by former
PUK Deputy Secretary General Nawshirwan Mustafa, could win 15
seats. The Service and Reformation coalition, composed of
four opposition parties, also may win nine or more seats.
Under the amended Kurdistan Electoral Law, minority parties
have been allocated eleven seats by quota -- five to
Christians, five to Turcomen and one to Armenians. Kurdistan
President Masoud Barzani is expected to win the vote for the
presidency without much contest.


2. (SBU) In support of Iraq's electoral process, the U.S.
Mission has fielded eight election monitor teams today: two
teams in Erbil, two teams in Dohuk, three teams in
Sulaimaniyah and one team in Baghdad. The United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has also sent out six
observer teams. We understand that international diplomatic
missions based in Iraq will also field election observer
teams today, including: the Arab League, Australia, the
European Union, Denmark, France, Japan, Korea, Poland,
Russia, Sweden, Turkey and the UK. The Embassy is working in
close coordination with these teams, and anticipates selected
readout and reports from these teams in the coming days.


3. (SBU) As of 12:00 p.m. today, the U.S. election monitor
teams report a quiet morning at the polling stations visited.
One elections official estimated that turnout was at roughly
30%. During the morning, there was virtually no traffic on
the streets as Peshmerga forces strictly enforced a one-day
vehicle ban across Kurdistan. U.S. monitors reported seeing
families walking to polling centers on foot. Soon after
polls opened at 8:00 a.m., monitors noted that there were no
lines of people, and that voters were able to cast their
ballots immediately. Party agents were present in all of the
polling sites visited by the U.S. teams, and both the
Kurdistani List and the Change List appear to be well
represented. U.S. monitors also report seeing many domestic
observers from non-governmental organizations.


4. (SBU) In Erbil, RRToffs monitored a special temporary
polling site that was assembled for President Barzani at the
Sheraton Hotel. They report heavy media coverage as Barzani
voted and proudly displayed his finger, which was dipped in a
special purple ink issued by the Independent High Electoral
Commission (IHEC). Elsewhere, U.S. monitors noted that the
KDP-PUK coalition has organized a children's campaign; kids
with banners, balloons and Kurdistan List t-shirts were seen
riding bicycles near the polling stations. All teams have
reported numerous incidents of voters being turned away from
polling stations because they could not find their name on
the voter registry. One woman in Erbil was turned away
because she was registered under her family name instead of
her married name, she told Poloff that she planned to file a
complaint with IHEC. Embassy Baghdad is tracking this issue
closely to determine the magnitude of the reported problems;
U.S. election monitors are telling people with electoral
QU.S. election monitors are telling people with electoral
complaints to report their problems to IHEC.
FORD