ReliefWeb

Baghdad - 12 December 2009: The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Mr. Ad Melkert, met today with representatives of the Kurdish Alliance Bloc in the Council of Representatives. During the meeting both sides touched upon discussions that took place last week to finalize the Election Law. They reaffirmed that the Kurdish Alliance Bloc's acceptance of the seat allocation was based on the understanding that the allocation would be used exclusively for the 2010 Council of Representatives elections.

Both sides have reiterated the importance of holding a census in 2010. They stressed the importance of gathering census data for supporting comprehensive development and long term planning for the rebuilding and prosperity of Iraq and that census data should be used for the development of proper civil and voter registries. Mr. Melkert emphasized the international community's commitment to provide the necessary support to government institutions conducting the census.

The SRSG expressed his willingness to meet with the officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to further discuss outstanding issues between the Federal Government and the KRG, including Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution. Mr. Melkert reiterated the UN's support to reach a satisfactory and sustainable political agreement on these issues in order to promote security, stability and democracy in Iraq.