US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3605

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003605 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, KDEM, IZ, Elections 
SUBJECT: ACTING SRSG EXPRESSES CONCERNS OVER ELECTION LAW 
AND UNAMI OUTREACH PROGRAM FOR DRAFT CONSTITUTION 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR ZALMAY KHALILZAD FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) 
 
1.(C) Summary.  Acting Special Representative of the UN 
Secretary-General (A/SRSG) Michael von der Schulenburg told 
 
SIPDIS 
the Ambassador September 1 that UNAMI needed a final version 
of the draft constitution in order to conduct its outreach 
program via the Public Distribution System (PDS). 
Schulenburg expressed concern that the election law, if 
passed, may prove too difficult to actually implement in time 
for the December 15 election.  He also said he was weighing 
the appropriate level of UN involvement in Kirkuk issues. 
End summary. 
 
2. (C) A/SRSG Michael von der Schulenburg told the Ambassador 
that UNAMI will not be able to conduct its planned outreach 
program via the PDS due to ongoing changes to the draft 
permanent constitution.  As a key component of its outreach 
program, Schulenburg said that UNAMI planned to use the PDS 
to deliver a copy of the draft constitution to virtually 
every Iraqi household so the electorate could review the 
draft prior to the referendum.  Schulenburg said that UNAMI 
could only proceed with the PDS outreach program if it 
received formal authorization from the TNA to release a final 
draft. 
 
3. (C) The Ambassador noted that Sunni representatives are 
engaged with the Kurds and Shi'a concerning textual 
adjustments that could result in broader Sunni support for 
the constitution at the referendum.  The Ambassador 
emphasized that this is an Iraqi process, and that the 
international community needs to support the Iraqi efforts to 
arrive at an agreeable text. 
 
4. (C) Schulenburg said he was concerned about the pending 
election law, and said that the law, if passed as now 
drafted, may be impossible to implement prior to the December 
15 elections.  He added that the agreements made by the key 
parties in the past few weeks are now being ignored, and that 
too many key actors are out of the country and unavailable to 
get the law back on track.  He added that the current draft 
of the election law only requires that one in four candidates 
on party lists be women.  He cautioned that this would be 
insufficient to guarantee that women would constitute 25 
percent of Assembly membership.  He also said that Deputy 
Speaker Shahristani had raised concerns about the scheme for 
distributing the 45 compensatory seats, due to fear that the 
Kurds would manipulate this provision.  The Ambassador 
stressed the importance of passage of an election law that 
best serves all Iraqis, and urged the UN to continue pressing 
the IECI to clarify these key issues. 
 
5. (C) Regarding Kirkuk, Schulenburg said he was trying to 
determine the level of UN involvement on Kirkuk issues. 
While the rest of Iraq experienced somewhat small increases 
in registered voters during the August voter registration 
update campaign, he said the campaign recorded approximately 
100,000 new registrations in Kirkuk.  He also expressed 
concern over the lack of progress on Kirkuk claims submitted 
to the Iraqi Property Claims Commission. 
Khalilzad