By
Aws El Sharqi, IOL Iraq Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
October 15 (IslamOnline) - Around eleven and half million Iraqi voters
flocked to ballot stations across the country on Tuesday, October 15,
to cast their votes in a referendum on a new seven-year term for
President Saddam Hussein.
The
voting came amidst mounting tension that the U.S. would unleash a
military offensive on Iraq and occupy the country.
Thousands
of politicians, media people and lawmakers cast their ballots in the
referendum.
Buildings,
streets and public squares across Iraq were painted with the country's
flags and pictures of President Saddam.
Huge
tents were set up to host voters as they wait to cast their ballots.
Speaking
to IslamOnline, crippled Maan Ziad el-Ameri, an Iraqi citizen from El
Dawra 1 constituency, stressed that his disability did not stymie his
participation in the referendum.
The
authorities provided every ballot-casting station with wheel chairs
for emergency cases, he said.
“It
is the duty of every Iraq to cast his vote. This referendum is a
decisive civilized answer to the enemies’ allegations. It is a
manifestation of the time-honored bound between the leader (Saddam)
and his people,” said the Iraqi citizen.
In
another ballot station in new Baghdad, Monira Abdel Rahman el-Biaty, a
80-year-old Iraqi woman, said with a smile covering her face: “I
came to say ‘Yes’ to President Saddam who hit the Zionists with
missiles and defied the Americans, the enemies of Arabs and
Muslims.”
Naguib
Shalan Mohammad, another Iraqi elder, considered the referendum a
display of honor, dignity and stamina.
“It
is the real answer to threats by the enemies who are trying to destroy
the Iraqi civilization,” he added.
“The
election of President Saddam means the election of principles and
values because he is the symbol of gallantry, courage and wise
leadership,” said Galal Taleab el-Baya, an Iraqi doctor.
“Saying
‘Yes’ to Saddam means saying ‘Yes’ to Iraq…independence and
sovereignty. It is the big challenge to face American conspiracies and
greed in our oil and soil,” said Saif Hassan el-Abiedy, a student of
Al Mostansria University.
Hady
Faris, chairman of the General Federation of Farming Societies,
described the referendum as “an Iraqi wedding that demonstrates the
free will of our people in choosing the historical leader who was able
to stand in the face of the American and Zionist tyranny, challenging
colonial schemes against Iraq and the Arab nation.”
“We
organized festivals in the factories with the participation of Arab
and international labor delegations to attend the referendum as a
moral participation in repudiating American allegations against
Iraq,” said Gamil Soliman el-Gabouri, chairman of the General
Federation of Worker Unions.
“Saddam
Hussein is the symbol of our dignity in the face of the
American-Zionist assault. He is the only Arab leader calling for the
liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. He opposes
normalization with the Zionist entity and that is why the Americans
seem him a danger threatening the Zionists' security and their
colonial schemes,” said Hana Abdel Moneim, law professor, Baghdad
University.
Citizens
of el-A’zamia area and other areas wrote banners of allegiance to
President Saddam with their “blood”.
The
residents of el-Rashidia area prepared banquets for visitors and
supervisors of the referendum process.
A
convoy of private pick-ups decorated with flowers and banners roamed
the streets of Baghdad.
Iraqi
poets also had their share with the general union of writers
organizing a big gala in al-Andalus in downtown Baghdad to praise
Saddam and condemn the American threats to the country.
Universities,
institutes and even schools were theaters of seminars deploring the
American threats and colonial schemes.
