Teather Expresses Concern Over Future Iraq Elections

3.53.59pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 29th Nov 2004

Sarah Teather has expressed concerns about the future of elections in Iraq

Liberal Democrat MP and London Spokesperson Sarah Teather has expressed concern over the elections to be held in Iraq in January. The Brent East MP has raised the issue in a Foreign Affairs debate in the House of Commons.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather said:

"It is vital that the elections in January take place, to begin the process of rebuilding the country. However, there are serious practical concerns about whether the elections will be possible and they need to be addressed; for example, the UN estimates that Iraq will need about 30,000 polling stations nation wide and an electoral staff of about 120,000, but those

arrangements have yet to be put in place.

"The UN presence in Iraq is currently very limited for security reasons. The Iraqi Foreign Minister criticised the UN for its reluctance to send large numbers of staff to Iraq, but who can blame it when the situation is so dangerous? Those matters need to be addressed urgently if the elections are to take place in January.

"I asked the Secretary of State what would be done to ensure that those refugees from Falluja, who had fled before the coalition action there, were registered to vote and able to vote. He said that they are able return to their homes, but that answer is woefully inadequate.

"Many cannot return to their homes because they have no homes to go to and we do not know where they are. The Secretary of State said that many were staying with family and friends. However, even in this country where movements of people are entirely predictable—for example, students departing from a city—it is difficult to ensure that everyone takes up their democratic right to vote. How on earth can we believe that people in Falluja will have that opportunity? As the coalition action was taken to ensure that those people would have the democratic right to vote, it would be terrible if they, of all people, found themselves unable to exercise that right.

"The Liberal Democrats were bitterly opposed to the war. We believe that military action should not have been taken because it violated international law and was based on a false prospectus. No weapons of mass destruction have been found and the serious and present danger that we were warned about has been shown not to exist."