IRAQ: Iraqi interim government officials and the country's election commission have all but ruled out demands by Sunni Arab parties to postpone parliamentary elections scheduled for January 30th, pointing out that the interim constitution has no mechanism for a delay.
"There is no possibility for a delay, as I understand the law here in front of me," said Mr Farid Ayar, spokesman and board member for the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission.
His statement echoes remarks by Mr Barham Saleh, the country's deputy prime minister, in an interview broadcast on Saturday by the BBC, affirming that holding elections would be a serious challenge but legally could not be postponed.
Mr Thaer al-Naqib, the prime minister's spokesman, has also said the government plans to push ahead with a January 2005 vote as mandated by Iraq's transitional administrative law, approved by the coalition- appointed Iraqi Governing Council in March.
Sunni Arab parties have pushed for a delay as violence is likely to disrupt the vote in their support bases in central and northern Iraq.
Insurgents have threatened to target the polls, and US and Iraqi officials report that government agents responsible for passing out registration forms in the northern city of Mosul and the suburbs of Baghdad have refused to do so for fear of being killed.
Other parties have lent their support to the postponement drive, arguing that full Sunni participation is necessary to ensure the election's legitimacy.
They argue that more time is needed for Iraq's Sunni parties, much weaker than their Shia and Kurdish equivalents, to organise themselves. They also say more time is needed to persuade influential anti-occupation Sunni groups such as the Association of Muslim Scholars, which has so far urged a boycott, to join in the voting.
On Saturday, senior Sunni Arab politician Mr Adnan Pachachi presented a petition signed by 17 groups seeking a six-month delay.
However, both Iraq's Shia clergy, including senior cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the US ambassador to Baghdad, have lent their support to holding the polls on time.