BAGHDAD, Oct 23 (AFP) - Organisers of Iraq's landmark elections planned for January insist that everything is on track, with more foreign advisors and United Nations experts due to visit the country despite the huge security risks.
"The United Nations has approved 25 more advisors and the United Kingdom has promised two or three and so has the European Union and others," said Carlos Valenzuela, who heads a UN team advising the country's independent electoral commission, charged with preparing for the elections.
The ceiling on the number of UN staff allowed to work in Iraq is currently fixed at a maximum of 35 people.
His comments on Saturday come days after Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and officials on the commission itself expressed concern that the United Nations was not playing a sufficient enough role in preparing for the vote.
Valenzuela explained that there was a wide misconception about the United Nations' role in the process.
"At the end day it's Iraqis who are leading the process," he AFP in an interview.
"Unlike Afghanistan where the United Nations did the voter registration, we have no operational mandate in Iraq."
He said the world body would normally be directly involved in a country's electoral process only if it lacked the resources and infrastructure to do it alone, which is not Iraq's case.
The argument put forward by many Iraqi officials wanting a broader role from the United Nations is that it is the first time they have embarked on something like this and that they need the world body's guidance every step of the way.
Some also feel that a greater role by the United Nations would somehow lend any election outcome a greater stamp of legitimacy.
"We are moving from a totalitarian to a pluralist system, so all of this is new to us and sometimes we are learning as we go along," said Adil al-Lami, a member of the electoral commission.
"We need their logistical help and guidance because we want this to be perfect."
Despite the to-and-fro about the scope of the UN's role, both officials said elections were on track, sounding a note similar to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said Thursday that voting was "technically possible" in January.
Lami even went further saying progress in preparations was such that elections for a national parliament, a parliament for the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and 18-provincial councils may even be held a "bit earlier."
The process of registering voters, political parties and candidates for the January vote will begin on November 1 and is expected to last until mid-December at the latest, according to Valenzuela.
He said 550 registration centres would be set up throughout the country in the same location or near where Iraqis are accustomed to receiving their food rations, a remnant from the times of the UN oil-for-food programme under the previous regime.
About 6,500 clerks have been trained in Jordan and Iraq for the registration.
The commission has already produced a provisional voter register.
At the start of November Iraqi families will receive a form which shows how they are listed on the register. After that people have two weeks to make any amendments or corrections to the form and return it to the registration centre.
A final voter register will be published towards the end of November.
Anyone born before December 31, 1986 and can show proof of Iraqi citizenship is eligible to vote.
Parallel to the voter registration process, the so called certification of political entities will begin, according to officials.
Those eligible must present no fewer than 500 signatures from persons entitled to vote, their symbol and a deposit of 7.5 million dinars (5,170 dollars) for groups and 2.5 million dinars (1,725 dollars) for individuals.
Officials say preparations are also underway to set up 3,000 polling stations throughout the country and ways to secure the whole process.
Security remains one of the main concerns for elections as violence plagues the country on a daily basis, with some areas like the flashpoints of Fallujah and Ramadi west of the capital virtually outside of government authority.

10/23/2004 14:36 GMT - AFP