US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4321

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 004321 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, IZ, Elections 
SUBJECT: COALITION AND CANDIDATE REGISTRATION  DEADLINE 
EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 28 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford, for 
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (U) The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq 
(IECI) announced October 19 that the IECI Board of 
Directors has approved extending both the political 
coalition and the political candidate registration 
deadline from October 21 to October 28.  The IECI has 
produced a press release announcing this change. 
 
2. (C) COMMENT: In an October 19 meeting, prior to 
issuance of the announcement, UN EAD chief Carina 
Perelli told the Charge that the election coalition 
registration deadline could be moved forward by only a 
few days due to the amount of time needed for ballot 
design, production, shipment and distribution. 
However, she confirmed that the deadline for candidate 
lists could be moved forward by as much as two weeks 
(i.e., to November 4).  Perelli said the IECI might 
not initially extend the candidate list deadline to 
the latest possible date, as Iraq's disorganized 
political parties were likely to take all time 
afforded to them, and more, to identify candidates. 
 
 
Satterfield