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In the
lead-up to the elections, violence continues to
escalate.
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While
elections in Iraq appear to be on track, opinions among Iraqis
vary on topics ranging from whether they will even vote to
whether the polls will bring positive change for their war-torn
occupied country.
Ordinary
Iraqis are concerned about the fairness of the elections, which
is threatened by the bad security situation as well as the
complexities within the very election system.
“We
are not against the elections, but we are against their
timing,” said Saif, an 18-year-old biology student at Baghdad
University. “They will be a disaster. Look at the security!”
In
the lead-up to the elections, violence continues to escalate,
the target of which oftentimes being polling stations and
political officials.
In
Beji on January 17, two polling stations were attacked with
mortars and gunfire. Also in the same area, fighters attacked a
school that was designated as a polling station and was being
guarded by US soldiers.
More,
a suicide car bomb detonated near the offices of the
headquarters of one of the leading Shiite political parties,
killing at least four guards. The office of The Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, located near Baghdad
University in south Baghdad, was damaged in the explosion.
Despite
the violence, many Iraqis remain determined to vote.
“We
are not against elections, but we are against their
timing.” |
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“I
will vote no matter what,” said Alia Khalaf, a biologist in
Baghdad who is also a follower of Sistani. “The elections will
bring more security to Iraq.”
Yet
it seems difficult to imagine that simply holding elections will
be a catalyst for stability.
Recently,
in another military operation, the son of an official close to
the revered cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani was shot dead
in southeast Baghdad. Furthermore, last week Mahmoud Al-Madaen,
the personal representative of Sistani in the small city of
Salman Pak south of Baghdad, was assassinated along with his son
and four bodyguards. On the same day Halim Al-Moaqaq was found
dead. Moaqaq was another of Sistani’s aides.
At
least eight candidates have been assassinated—let alone
countless thwarted attempts.
Many
Iraqis hold very strong opinions against holding the elections
under these circumstances.
“We
will have the elections only because the Americans demand it,”
said Sara, a physics student in Baghdad. “The people nominated
are not national Iraqis and most of them are puppets of the
Americans who have not suffered in Iraq like we have under these
circumstances.”
“I will
vote no matter what.” |
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In
seemingly futile efforts to increase security for the elections,
the US-backed interim Iraqi government has announced that the
country’s borders will be closed from January 29 until January
31. Mobile and satellite phones will be cut during this time,
the use of vehicles “restricted,” and already existing
nighttime curfews extended. Iraqis will also be barred from
traveling between the governorates.
Election
Complexities
“If
there are to be true elections there should be names,”
complained a man who called himself Ahmed in a market in central
Baghdad.
His
opinion is not without cause—the election process is fraught
with complexities. Even the ballot itself for the 275-member
parliament is difficult to discern. There are over 7,000
candidates, mostly unnamed for fear of assassination. Members of
parliament will be elected by proportional representation.
To
further complicate matters, it appears that there are four of
Iraq’s 18 governorates that will be unable to participate in
the elections because of the widespread violence.
A
Sunni-Shiite “Divide”?
Some
Iraqis who intend to vote are frustrated with the media
attention focusing on the Sunni-Shiite “divide.”
“We will
have the elections only because the Americans demand
it.” |
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Responding
to the question as to his religious sect, Ahmed would not say
whether he was Shiite or Sunni: “Why should it matter? We are
all Iraqi and we are all Muslim.”
Jassim—a
36-year-old grocery store owner in the predominantly Shiite
district of Khadimiya—believes that “there is no reason for
a Sunni-Shiite split.”
“It
is only the political parties that are using this talk,” he
added, “And it seems as though there are those who would like
to cause a divide. But it will never happen, because we have
never had this divide.”
Which
Comes First: Democracy or Elections?
If
the elections take place and a parliament is formed, its job
will be to produce a constitution, which will then be held to a
referendum prior to October 15 later this year. Shortly after
that—on December 15—elections will be held in order to
choose a new government, according to the Iraqi transitional
law.
These
plans seem far-fetched when looking through the lens of violence
and turmoil that is Occupied Iraq today.
“Shouldn’t
democracy precede elections,” exclaimed an unemployed engineer
named Khalid in central Baghdad, “rather than trying to use
these illegitimate elections to call Iraq a democracy?”
Summing
up the political situation afflicting the upcoming elections, a
veteran Iraqi politician who spoke on condition of anonymity
told Al-Ahram Weekly newspaper, “It is clear that Sunni
deputies will be appointed, now that the Islamic party has
withdrawn and the Association of Muslim Scholars is boycotting
the elections.”
Further
underscoring the chaos amidst the elections and their potential
political fallout, he continued, “I don't believe that the
Americans are going to agree to the Kurdish demands concerning
Kirkuk and one of the two top government posts. Nor are the
Americans going to agree to the Shiite request for federalism
and a majority in the National Assembly, nor to an Iranian-style
regime.”
Another
politician, speaking also to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition
of anonymity, asked, “What type of constitution are we to
expect from elections that are held under occupation and right
after the bloodshed in Falluja?”
* Dahr
Jamail is an American journalist of Lebanese descent.
Currently based in Iraq, his articles focus on Iraqis and how
the occupation of their country affects their daily life.
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