IHEC Rejects Basra Autonomy Bid

By John Lee.

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has reportedly rejected a request for referendum to make Basra an autonomous region.

Anadolu Agency reports that Commission said it had received an official request from Basra city that included the signatures of 44,366 citizens, but the lists were missing the signatories' identification numbers and ration card numbers.

The Commission added that 2,135 of the signatories' names were repeated, and 20,726 names did not match the registered voters' lists while only 21,505 names were identical to the voters' data.

According to the Commission, the matching signatories' names represented only 1.2 per cent of the eligible voters' lists which is less than the two per cent ratio demanded by Iraqi law to accept the request.

It is understood that the request will be submitted again once the legal procedures were completed.

(Source: Middle East Monitor)