Polling station observers KDP agents?

This morning we gathered the Change List polling station observers before they were being sent out to observe the voting of the security personnel; police, military, fire department, hospital employees etc. We had registered them by names to the authorities a few days ago and now we heard that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had received a list of their names. We told our observers that if they had been approached by the KDP they should tell us. We told them that if they are working for the KDP and they act as our observers during the election, they will be reported to the Independent High Electoral Commision (IHEC) and charged with this and that it could lead to fines or prison sentences. We said that in order to avoid serious consequences for them they better leave now. Six of the eighteen observers left. We had to put in reserves in their places.

But we are happy to report that the voting today has been a calm event and the observers have not discovered any signs of foul play. There can be two reasons for this; either the rules by the IHEC are being respected or it is because those who vote today are all employed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The KDP may expect that most of them will vote for the Kurdistani List 54. But we in the Change List believe that when these votes have been counted we will see a big surprise.

If these elections will be executed in a democratic, free and transparent way, we in the Change List will be truly grateful and happy for the Kurdish people. We need to show the rest of the world that we are a people who will, and can, form a democratic society.