BAGHDAD – Iraq’s parliament has selected the ninth, final member of the election commission supposed to be in charge of the upcoming provincial and general elections.



Lawmaker Muqdad Al-Shuraifi, himself a member of the new commission, said legislators Thursday chose Turkoman representative Kulshan Kamal.



Parliament last week approved the other eight members of the Independent High Electoral Commission, which is to supervise the 2013 provincial and the 2014 general elections.



The house stalled on the ninth member because various blocs could not agree on whether to choose a Christian, a Turkoman or an ethnic Turk.



The IHEC is drawn from Iraq’s various ethnic and sectarian factions. Along with the Turkoman Kamal, it has four Shiites, two Sunnis and two Kurds.



Lawmaker Ali Al-Allaq said 7,800 people applied for jobs on the new commission and nine were selected from 60 finalists.



“Only the best were chosen,” said Al-Allaq, adding that UN officials supervised the selection process. – AP