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UN election advisers to the democratic process in Iraq said in Mexico City on Friday that an inclusive and transparent electoral model that gets the trust of the Iraqi people is decisive in ensuring peace in the region.
Seven members of the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission are receiving training in electoral management to organize popular elections at a two-week workshop here, attended by UN experts as well as election experts from Argentina, Spain, Mauritius, Palestine, Yemen and Mexico.
Following the transfer of sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, parliamentary elections will be held in Iraq no later than Jan. 31, 2005, and a referendum in October 2005.After the constitution is approved, general elections will be held by the end of 2005 to select a new Iraqi government, UN election experts said.
At a press conference here, Carolina Perelli, director of the UN Electoral Assistance Division, stressed the need for an inclusive election process that will allow "even the smallest sectors" to be represented.
She added that the process must also be "simple and transparent."
Perelli was accompanied by the President of the Argentine National Electoral Chamber, Judge Santiago Corcuera, and UN election adviser Jose Maria Astorkia.
Asked if the increasing violence in Iraq could affect the organization of the polls, Perelli said the problem is not the bombs but winning people's trust and the organization of clean elections.
Militants, armed branches, or whoever is making use of violence will not be allowed to participate in the election, Perelli added.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2004)
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