Posted on 12/01/2004 12:39:05 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
Preparations for the Jan. 30 national election are on track despite continuing violence and calls for delaying or boycotting the vote, the U.N. election chief in Iraq says.
"I won't say I am happy, but I am satisfied with the process," Carlos Valenzuela told The Associated Press in an interview. "People tend to have these very unrealistic expectations about elections. ... They are not a panacea, but they seem to me at least at this moment the one way to go that would help the transitional process" in Iraq.
Valenzuela heads a team of 20 U.N. staff in Iraq and 15 more in neighboring Jordan who are giving technical assistance to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which was set up earlier this year with the help of the United Nations.
The Jan. 30 vote is for a 275-member assembly that will appoint a government and draft a permanent constitution. If adopted in a referendum next year, the constitution would form the legal basis for another general election to be held by Dec. 15.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
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