After 18 years on the road to democracy, “people become more and more impatient, they lose the trust in the institution,” Viola von Cramon told Rudaw’s Shahyan Tahseen in an interview on Friday.
With the observation mission, “What we would like to see is confidence-building in the institution,” she said.
Iraqis will go to the polls on October 10. Voter turnout is expected to be low with concerns of fraud, vote-buying, and voter intimidation.
The Iraqi government requested the EU observation mission, evidence that Baghdad wants “transparent, fair and free elections,” said von Cramon.
In a press conference on Thursday, she urged Iraqis to vote, saying not participating will make it difficult to strengthen real democracy in Iraq.
The European Union will have around 80 election observers on the election day, deployed across Iraq but not in all polling stations to observe all aspects of the vote and ensure compliance with Iraqi law and international standards.
