The newspapers published in Baghdad today, Thursday, July 27, continued their follow-up to the preparations for holding the elections of the provincial councils and the Kurdistan region, and the repercussions of the continuous rise in the exchange rate of the dollar.

Al-Zawraa newspaper, which is published by the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, followed the latest preparations for holding the provincial council elections and the elections of the Kurdistan region.

The spokeswoman for the Election Commission, Jumana Al-Ghalai, said, in an interview with Al-Zawra: “The Chairman of the Council of Commissioners and members of the Independent High Electoral Commission held their regular session on 7/18/2023 to discuss several issues on the agenda, including holding elections for the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region (session Sixth) on 11/18/2023, as the decision was issued that it could not be held in accordance with this date, as it affects the quality of the elections from a technical point of view, which leads to the loss of many international standards.

Al-Ghalay added: “The decision included a proposal to set a new date for holding the region’s elections on February 18, 2024 or later, and the session also included approval of granting (conditional permission) for 11 political parties until all requirements for party establishment are completed. In addition to approving the change of the name of a number of political parties, as well as discussing administrative matters related to the electoral process.

On the technical side and within the stage of updating voter data that started on July 9, it explained: “The number of voters who have updated their biometric data has reached (176,406) voters for general voting and (407) for private voting until Sunday, 7/23/2023, and registration centers, which are (1079) registration centers spread throughout Iraq’s governorates, districts and districts, continue to receive voters wishing to update their data for public and private voting, including newborns (2005 and 2004), and voters who were not previously registered, in addition to running mobile teams whose task is to distribute biometric cards in the centers.

Also about the elections, Al-Sabah newspaper, published by the Iraqi Media Network, said that the polling day in the provincial elections will be an official holiday, and that there is an active role for the Joint Security Committee for elections to secure the polling stations.

The head of the commission’s media team, Imad Jamil, said in an interview with Al-Sabah: “The eighteenth of next December and the day that precedes and will come after will be an official holiday to allow the commission to prepare polling centers and stations, and then transfer the ballot boxes to the warehouses after completion.” the electoral process,” stressing that there was no curfew at the time.

He added, “There is an effective role for the joint security committee for the elections,” noting: “The operations and police leaders are the ones who manage this committee in the governorates according to their security organization, through the formation of administrative, intelligence and logistical committees that would supervise all operations in the governorates, including securing warehouses, offices and registration centers,” pointing out: “there is a plan put in place to secure the 7008 polling stations through tight security cordons.”

Jamil referred to the exploitation of schools that were built in villages and rural areas to open polling stations, as they are far from those centers, noting that “there is no specific number yet about the number of centers until the completion of the process of updating the voter register next month.”

As for Al-Zaman newspaper, it continued to follow the repercussions of the continuous and accelerating rise in the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar.

In this regard, it indicated that citizens demonstrated yesterday, in front of the Central Bank building on Al-Rashid Street in Baghdad, to demand control of the dollar exchange rate, which is witnessing an unprecedented rise in more than four months, despite the package of measures launched by the government to address the crisis.

It stated that the demonstrators chanted slogans calling on the Prime Minister, Muhammad Al-Sudani, to take new measures to control the exchange rate of the currency, as this rise has negative effects on the prices of commodities and foodstuffs.

Al-Zaman also referred to the private banks sanctioned by the US Treasury, asking the government to compensate them for the damage.

It quoted a joint statement of the owners of these banks: “Stopping our banks’ dealings in currency through the bank at the direction of the US Federal Bank is unfortunate, and we would like to clarify that we apply the best verification and auditing standards, through specialized staff and through advanced global programs and systems in the field of compliance and anti-money laundering, financing of terrorism, and verifying all companies and individuals in accordance with the various international dealing prevention regulations, including the regulations of the OFAC Department or others, all in order to avoid suspicious transactions.

The statement added: “The banks operate under the umbrella and control of the Central Bank, and provide various banking services, including coverage of foreign imports.” / End

Source: National Iraqi News Agency