U.N. Election Chief Says Only Increased Violence or Mass Resignations...

[Barrett808]

U.N. Election Chief Says Only Increased Violence or Mass Resignations Could Stop Iraq's Elections From Going Forward
By Hamza Hendawi Associated Press Writer
Published: Jan 18, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Only a sustained onslaught by insurgents or the mass resignation of electoral workers will prevent this month's national elections from going ahead, the chief U.N. election adviser in Iraq said Tuesday.

Still, with just two weeks to go before the Jan. 30 vote, Carlos Valenzuela acknowledged that intimidation of electoral workers by guerrillas seeking to derail the balloting is "high and very serious."

An insurgency led by Sunni Muslim militants has recently stepped up its campaign to stop the vote, slaughtering electoral workers, blasting designated polling stations with mortar fire and assassinating candidates. Insurgents have also attacked the U.S.-trained Iraqi police and security personnel who are to guard the polls.

The landmark election is for a 275-seat legislature whose primary task will be to approve a new government and draft a permanent constitution. Iraqis are also going to the polls to elect local councils for the country's 18 provinces. And in the three autonomous Kurdish regions in northern Iraq, voters will choose a regional, 111-seat assembly.

The massive scale of the elections leaves insurgents with no shortage of potential targets. About 140,000 polling workers will be on duty on election day. There are more than 7,000 candidates running for the National Assembly. If one counts those competing for seats in the Kurdish house and on provincial councils, the total number of candidates jumps to 19,000.

(more)

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBE6SAL44E.html

[bemildred]

1. Thanks for the hint, Carlos. nt