“The role of UNAMI is limited… and advisory. We provide technical assistance to the government and the Independent High Electoral Commission to ensure the conduct of free, fair, and transparent elections,” Claudio Cordone, deputy UNAMI chief told Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran.
“We don’t have an observatory or monitoring role, that is the responsibility of the Iraqi institutions,” he added.
Iraq held its long-anticipated provincial elections in 15 provinces on Monday. The last provincial council elections took place in 2013, without Kirkuk. The city has not held a local election since 2005.
The provincial councils were created by the 2005 Iraqi constitution following the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime. They hold significant power, including setting budgets for several key sectors such as education, health, and transport, but are accused of being rife with corruption.
Over 7,000 polling stations opened at 7:00 am on Monday morning under tight security, and closed at 6:00 pm.
Iraq’s top political leaders on Monday called for a high turnout in the vote calling on citizens to head towards the polling stations to cast their votes.
The parliamentary election in 2021 saw a record low turnout as many voters were disillusioned with the democratic process and had little trust in Iraq’s political system.
