|
BAGHDAD, Iraq —
At the offices of Iraq's election commission,
workers scurry to field phone calls, greet sheiks
and politicians, and prepare for the country's
nationwide election Jan. 30.
The pace borders on frenetic.
In the middle of war, as car bombs pound the city
and gunfire punctuates the air, the workers race so
that Iraq's 13.9 million eligible voters can cast
ballots under all but the most violent scenarios.
For most nations, elections are the biggest
logistical activity ever undertaken in peacetime.
Iraq, which has no modern experience with elections,
is preparing for one amid violence and turmoil.
The election commission has begun to register
voters, design ballots, train election observers and
explain to citizens how voting works.
Troubleshooting is an everyday activity.
“We know that there are going to be some mistakes.
That's why we have some methods for correcting the
mistakes,” said Safwan Rashid, one of nine members
of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq.
Questions about the viability of the election have
given way to near-certainty that it will take place.
Politicians who called for a boycott appear to be
re-evaluating. While the majority Shiite Muslims
voice near-undiluted enthusiasm for the vote,
minority Sunni Muslims and ethnically distinct Kurds
have balked, worried that a popular vote may erode
their power.
But resistance is wilting. A week after two Kurdish
parties backed a call by Sunni politicians to
postpone the vote, they were preparing a unified
slate of candidates. Even Sunni politicians appear
to be backtracking. Ayad al-Ezzi said his Iraqi
Islamic Party was talking with other factions “about
the importance of having a good and proper
atmosphere for the elections,” while still declining
to abandon its call for a postponement.
“A number of them are coming around to the view that
perhaps they ought to seriously consider
participating in order to protect their longer-term
equity,” U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said last
week.
Iraq has allotted $250 million for the elections
within the country, and an additional $92 million to
allow an estimated 1 million Iraqis living abroad to
vote.
In Iraq, registration of voters is under way. The
registry is based on records of Iraqis who receive
monthly food rations under a program that began in
the early 1990s, when the nation was under U.N.
sanctions. Today, rich and poor Iraqis alike still
receive rations.
“Nobody could tell lies to Saddam. So it was a
correct record. Whoever lied was killed,” said Farid
Ayar, a spokesman for the electoral commission.
Registration forms are delivered to citizens through
food ration agents linked to 542 distribution
centers across the nation of 22 million to 27
million people. Registration ends Dec. 15. On that
day the campaigning officially kicks off.
Iraqi officials say that some food ration agents in
Baghdad and Mosul, the country's third-largest city,
have refused to pass out voter registration forms
for fear of assassination. Rebels in Mosul destroyed
the city's registration forms last month. But
election officials say they will find ways around
the problem.
While security is a looming concern, Negroponte said
registration was going normally in 15 of the
provinces.
Security experts fret that anti-U.S. insurgents
think the window to disrupt the vote is closing.
Despite the intense planning and abundant resources,
security issues still threaten the elections in
parts of Baghdad, in Fallujah and Mosul, if not
elsewhere.
Election officials declined to say what measures
will be taken to keep queues of voters off city
streets, exposed to drive-by shootings or car bombs.
Or, tougher yet, what will happen if violence in
Sunni areas hinders voting and tribal leaders say
they have been disenfranchised?
Without dismissing such scenarios, officials said
they expected that the buildup of U.S. troops to
150,000 by election day would help.
Iraqis face several decisions on election day. They
will elect not only a 275-seat National Assembly but
also assemblies for each of 18 provinces. Kurds in
three northeastern provinces also will elect a
Kurdistan National Assembly to rule over their
semi-autonomous region.
Once the new National Assembly takes power, probably
in mid-February, its members will appoint a new
president to run the government, then draft a
permanent constitution by no later than Aug. 15.
Voters are to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to
that proposed charter by Oct. 15.
If the constitution is approved, Iraqis will go back
to the polls by Dec. 15, 2005, to vote in a fully
constitutional government.
Yasser Salihee of Knight Ridder Newspapers
contributed to this report.
http://www.kansascity.com
Top |
® 