Democratic Governance >> all countries >> Newsletter [2010]

24/02/2010: Iraq - 1798 women will compete for 81 parliamentary seats
23/02/2010: Lebanon - Deputies abstained from voting on a proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age
18/02/2010: Iraq - Political Entities Sign a Code of Ethics in Support of Free and Fair Elections
18/02/2010: Lebanon - The Council of Ministers Approves Proportional Representation in Municipal Elections
17/02/2010: Iraq - Around Two Million Iraqis Living Abroad are Entitled to Participate in the Upcoming Elections
10/02/2010: Sudan - The final list of presidential candidates and candidates of the government of southern Sudan
09/02/2010: Palestine - Local Elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
07/02/2010: Iraq - More than 70,000 observers will monitor the parliamentary elections of 2010
31/01/2010: Sudan - The election commission accepts the nomination of ten candidates for president and turns down three
28/01/2010: Sudan - The Election Commission Approves 13 Presidential Candidates
26/01/2010: Palestine - Postponement of the Presidential and Legislative Elections
07/01/2010: Iraq - Fixing a date for holding the elections of the councils of governorates in the Kurdistan region

Iraq - 1798 women will compete for 81 parliamentary seats (24/02/2010)
A total of 1798 women will compete in the Iraqi parliamentary elections of 2010 for 81 seats, or one fourth of the total number of the parliamentary seats, according to the quota allocated for women by the Iraqi constitution and the election law. Despite this high rate not found in the Middle East region and many regions of the world, women political activists and candidates for the House of Representatives wish to increase the number of seats allocated to women to 40 per cent or more. They are also demanding that women should occupy cabinet portfolios in the upcoming Iraqi cabinet. It should be recalled that the number of women deputies in the incumbent parliament is 69 women who constitute a women bloc within the parliament. However, most of them are linked with their own blocs and have not managed to go beyond what these blocs wanted.
Source: Al-Bayan Newspaper

Lebanon - Deputies abstained from voting on a proposed constitutional amendment to lower the voting age (23/02/2010)
On Monday, 22 February deputies abstained from voting on a project law to amend Article 21 of the Lebanese constitution to lower the voting age to 18 years.
Over 100 deputies were present, yet a total of 66 deputies abstained from voting, 34 deputies voted for the bill and one deputy voted against. A bill needs the approval of two thirds of the members of the National Assembly in order to pass.
Source: News Agencies

Iraq - Political Entities Sign a Code of Ethics in Support of Free and Fair Elections (18/02/2010)
Representatives of a number of political blocs have signed on Wednesday 17th February 2010 a Code of Ethics in support of free and fair elections. The code identifies core issues that are supposed to ensure a safe pre-elections environment that enables holding free, fair and transparent elections, as well as wide-scale participation by all entities of the Iraqi spectrum.
Source: Al-Sabah Newspaper

Lebanon - The Council of Ministers Approves Proportional Representation in Municipal Elections (18/02/2010)
The Lebanese Council of ministers has approved on Wednesday 17th February 2010 the use of proportional representation in municipal elections. This was the most prominent of several reformative amendments introduced into the municipal elections law. In fact, approval of proportional representation was highly unlikely due to overwhelming rejection and strong reservations raised by many parties.
However, the more critical and final breakthrough for the proposed amendment will be confronted at the parliament, which is empowered to approve, reject or re-amend that initiative. It is unlikely that the parliament will block the proposed amendment because it was approved in principle by government members who represent major political blocks in parliament.
Source: Annahar Newspaper

Iraq - Around Two Million Iraqis Living Abroad are Entitled to Participate in the Upcoming Elections (17/02/2010)
The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq has announced that parliamentary elections outside Iraq will be held in 45 Arab and foreign cities located in 16 countries that were confirmed by the Iraqi government. The Commission stated that 823 polling centers will be opened in those countries to enable around 1.9 million Iraqis living abroad to vote on 5 to 7 March 2010.
Source: Al-Sabah Newspaper

Sudan - The final list of presidential candidates and candidates of the government of southern Sudan (10/02/2010)
The National Election Commission has published the final lists of the presidential candidates and head of the southern Sudan government as well as executive and legislative posts in all parts of the country. According to the commission, there are 12 presidential candidates after the names of two candidates were added following the decision made by the Election Appeals Committee.
The National Election Commission approved the candidacy of Salva Kiir and Lam Akol Ajawin for the post of head of the government of southern Sudan. Those who have officially been approved as presidential candidates were the following: Umar Hasan Ahmad Al-Bashir; Abdallah Daynaq Niyal; Yasir Sa'eed Narman; Mubarak Al-Fadil; Al-Sadeq Al-Siddiq Al-Mahdi; Abdulaziz Khalid Uthman; Kamel Al-Tayyib Idris; Hakem Al-Sirr Ali; Muhammad Ibrahim Naqd; Muhammad Ahmad Juha; Fatimah Ahmad Abdul-Mahmoud; and Munir Shaykh Al-Deen Munir.
The total number of candidates for executive and legislative posts reached 14,535 and 685 candidates applications were cancelled; some disqualified other withdrew.
Source: Website of the National Election Commission in Sudan

Palestine - Local Elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (09/02/2010)
The Council of Ministers has decided to hold the local elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Saturday, 17 July 2010. The Council of Ministers requested the Central Elections Committee to begin the preparation of needed arrangements for holding the elections.
Source: The Palestine Press News Agency

Iraq - More than 70,000 observers will monitor the parliamentary elections of 2010 (07/02/2010)
The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq announced that the election campaign for the parliamentary elections of 2010 will begin on 12 February 2010, and added that the number of observers representing the various political entities reached 21,992 and that of the civil society organizations totaled 224 and that these organizations will designate 520,000 local media observers and 38 international media observers.
Source: Al-Sabah Newspaper

Sudan - The election commission accepts the nomination of ten candidates for president and turns down three (31/01/2010)
The National Election Commission in Sudan accepted on Saturday, 30 January 2010 the nomination of 10 candidates for the presidential post while it turned down the applications of three candidates for not meeting all the requirements for nomination. These were Munir Shaykh Al-Deen, who is the leader of the New Democratic National Party; Fatimah Ahmad Abdul Mahmoud of the Sudanese Democratic Socialist Union; and independent candidate Abdullah Ali Ibrahim.
Source: The Website of the National Election Commission in Sudan

Sudan - The Election Commission Approves 13 Presidential Candidates (28/01/2010)
The National Election Commission in Sudan stopped receiving presidential candidates’ applications Wednesday, 27 January 2010, marking the end of the period for receiving these applications. The number of those who submitted their papers for presidential nomination reached 13 candidates out of a total 21 candidates. Eight of these candidates have withdrawn their nomination for the office of the president. The names of candidates for the office of president of the republic were as follows: Umar Hasan Ahmad El Basheer; Abdallah Dinaq; Yassir Saeed Arman; Sadiq Almahdi; Mubarak Alfadil Almahdi; Fatima Abdel Mahmoud; Abdul Aziz Khalid; Kamil Idris El Tayeb; Hatim Al Sir Ali; Mohammed Ibrahim Nugud; Muneer Shaikh El Din; Mahmoud Ahmed Jiha; and Dr Aballa Ali Ibrahim.
Source: Website of the National Election Commission in Sudan

Palestine - Postponement of the Presidential and Legislative Elections (26/01/2010)
A new issued by the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on 22 January 2010- postpones the presidential and legislative elections that were preset according to a presidential decree number (35) issued 24th October 2009 and declares that date of the upcoming elections will be assigned by another presidential decree to be issued when the circumstances allow for conducting elections.
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Source: The website of the Central Elections Committee

Iraq - Fixing a date for holding the elections of the councils of governorates in the Kurdistan region (07/01/2010)
The government of the Iraqi region of Kurdistan has fixed 31 October 2010 as the date for holding the elections of the Councils of Governorates of the Kurdistan region. It should be pointed out that the first elections of the councils of the governorates in the Kurdistan region were held parallel with the general Iraqi elections of 2005.
Source: The Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah