“It is for Iraq a very decisive moment. I think it's actually the most decisive moment since 2003, the invasion that of course turned the country upside down,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Ad Melkert, said today.

On Sunday Iraqis go to the polls to elect a new Council of Representatives - Iraq's parliament. Nearly 19 million Iraqis are registered to vote in the country's 18 governorates.

“Now is the chance, against the backdrop of the withdrawal of the American troops in the next few years, that Iraqis really define by themselves their own way forward, their own destiny,” added Mr. Melkert, who heads the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). “And the election is of course not the only thing, but it's very vital to bring all Iraqis on board that process towards the future.”

With support from the UN Mission, the country's Independent High Electoral Commission has launched a massive operation to prepare for the vote. Nearly 50,000 polling stations will open across Iraq and out-of-country Iraqis will be able to vote in 16 nations.

This week the Commission opened a new data entry centre in Baghdad where votes will be tallied under tight security.

“We have done everything possible to make sure to provide all conditions to facilitate polling, counting and data tabulation,” Panto Letic of the UN's electoral assistance unit told reporters in Baghdad. He stressed that state-of-the-art measures are in place to prevent fraud.

In the last two years, the UN has also coordinated an update of voter registration around the country in which voters were able to check that their information on the electoral list was accurate.

The UN is advising the Independent High Electoral Commission and has been providing training to election officials, including polling station workers and lawyers who will handle potential complaints about the vote from the public.