United Nations, May 1 (IANS): The UN Security Council (UNSC) Wednesday welcomed the parliamentary elections in Iraq and called on all political entities in the Middle East country to ensure a smooth transition to form a new government that represents the will of all Iraqis.
"The members of the Security Council welcome the holding of timely parliamentary elections in Iraq on 30 April, and commend the people of Iraq for demonstrating their commitment to a peaceful, inclusive and democratic political process," Xinhua quoted the UNSC as saying in a statement read out here by Nigerian permanent representative to the United Nations U. Joy Ogwu, who holds the rotating council presidency for April.
Iraqis Wednesday went to the polls for the first time since the last US troops withdrew from the country in late 2011. More than 9,000 candidates from nearly 280 political entities were vying for the 328 seats.
About 60 percent of the over 21 million eligible voters had so far cast a ballot according to initial counting, the electoral commission said. The commission hopes to release final results by May-end.
The Security Council members, in the statement, said they "look forward to the announcement of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission certifying the election results".
Ogwu also said, "The members of the Security Council reaffirm their support for the efforts of the Iraqi Government to help meet the security needs of the entire population of Iraq, particularly in the current challenging security environment and during elections."
In response, Mohamed Ali Al-Hakim, the Iraqi permanent representative to the United Nations, told reporters here that he saw the new council statement as a "strong support to the Iraqi democratic process."
The parliamentary elections came "despite challenging situations," he said. "The people and government of Iraq demonstrated today their commitment to the democratic political process and defied all the terrorist threats."