The Council of Ministers held its extraordinary session, chaired by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, which was devoted to providing support for the elections, and following up on the latest procedures and preparations for them.

The Council hosted, during its session, the governors, the heads of independent bodies, the chiefs of the security services, as well as the head of the Independent High Electoral Commission.

At the beginning of the session, Mr. Al-Kadhimi stressed that the upcoming elections scheduled for the tenth of next October is the best and only solution to Iraq’s problems. H.E. stressed on the completion of all the requirements of the electoral process.

The Council presented a number of files and topics and took special decisions, and issued several decisions, most notably are:

• Directing the Supreme Security Committee to take the necessary measures; to protect and secure the transportation of the memory sticks of the results of the electoral process, to ensure that the preliminary results of the elections are announced 24 hours after the end of the voting process.

• The Ministry of Finance directed the treasuries to form a commission for the payment of wages; to secure payment of polling staff wages.

• Directing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate granting entry visas to international observers accredited to the Commission.

• Directing the involved authorities, to exclude the commission’s warehouses in Baghdad and all governorates, from the programmed cuts of electrical power.