BAGHDAD, Iraq — A senior U.N. official warned on Thursday that Iraqis had only a few weeks left to form an electoral commission and pass voting laws if elections are to take place as scheduled in January 2005.
The comments by Carina Perelli, the U.N. elections chief, reflected recent maneuverings by the world body behind the scenes in Iraq — consulting quietly with Iraqi politicians, the United States and others on finding a formula for a new government to take power at the end of June, while intensifying violence has grabbed the headlines.
Perelli also emphasized that a stable security environment was vital for the democratic process. Her trip to Iraq came amid daily insurgent attacks in former strongholds of Saddam Hussein, a rebellion by followers of a radical Shiite cleric and turmoil over abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers ahead of the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
Perelli, who arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday, said town hall meetings will be held ahead of May 31 — the target for putting electoral procedures in place — so Iraqis can express opinions on what system would best suit them and who should be in the commission. Even if the mechanisms are set on time, the United Nations will be pressed to organize national and provincial elections by Jan. 31, 2005.
But she warned that time was running out if Iraqis want to stick to that timetable. Many Iraqis are waiting for an elected government before they will truly feel that their country has regained sovereignty.
"If we want the elections to happen in January, that means by the end of May you have to have those agreements," Perelli said. "Otherwise the electoral authority cannot start working."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior official of the U.S.-led coalition governing Iraq said experts considered the election timetable to be a "very aggressive schedule," indicating any delay would threaten the entire process.
The United Nations is also helping form an interim government that will run Iraq until the elections in January. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is involved in intense consultations with a wide array of Iraqi groups, as well as coalition officials and members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council. The talks are expected to wrap up by the end of May — a month before the new government is supposed to take office.
Brahimi has proposed that a caretaker government be led by a prime minister with a president and two vice presidents, who would oversee the January elections. The elected national assembly will then adopt a constitution.
The senior official said the coalition welcomes Brahimi's idea of holding a national conference to select a council that could advise the interim government. The conference could be held in the second half of July.
Once the interim government is selected, the coalition official said, it will have a month before the June 30 political transition to prepare its ministries. Then its role will be threefold, the official said: handle the daily tasks of administration, deal with the security situation with the assistance of U.S.-led forces, and get ready for the elections in January.
"It is not U.N.'s elections, it is not my elections, it has to really crystalize how the people of Iraq feel about who has the legitimate right to represent them," Perelli said at a news conference.
"The assessment of the security environment is paramount," she said, adding that it is too early to say what conditions will be like in January.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a top State Department official said Thursday that a new Iraqi government won't have the authority to evict American forces from Iraq — quickly reversing a statement made minutes earlier before a House of Representatives panel.
The conflicting exchanges with Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman reflected the difficult balance the U.S. government is trying to strike as it moves closer to the June 30 handover of power.
Critics have questioned whether Iraqis will enjoy full sovereignty with tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers in the country responsible for security.
Violence intensified last month when Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched an uprising against the coalition and U.S. Marines launched the three-week siege of Fallujah.
The siege ended with an agreement for the Marines hand security in the city to soldiers from Saddam Hussein's former army. However, al-Sadr's militiamen are still fighting American forces in the southern holy city of Karbala, and sporadic skirmishes break out from time to time in Najaf, the most sacred city for Shiites in Iraq.
Although fighting has ebbed in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, insurgents in other former Saddam strongholds stage daily attacks on coalition troops.
The United Nations has started accepting nominations from individuals and groups for the eight-member electoral commission, which will oversee balloting. The nomination period ends May 15.
But five of Iraq's 18 electoral districts are too dangerous for nominations to be taken to coalition offices: the southern Shiite Muslim provinces of Kut, Diwaniyah, Karbala and Najaf — where al-Sadr's militia is active — and the violence-plagued western province of Anbar, which includes Fallujah.
Nominations won't be accepted at coalition offices in those districts, Perelli has said. Instead, people or groups can give their nominations over the Internet or go to other provinces.