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Washington – Political parties and candidates
on the ballot for Iraq’s January 30 elections have
begun reaching out to voters through public rallies,
private gatherings and poster campaigns. The
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI)
declared January 2 the official starting date for
the electoral campaign, and candidates will have
until January 28 to communicate their views to the
voters.
The January 30 election will determine the
composition of a 275-seat Transitional National
Assembly and fill the seats of governorate councils
in each of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Voters in the
Kurdish region will also be electing a Kurdistan
National Assembly.
The dynamics of the campaign vary across different
parts of the country. A senior State Department
official in Baghdad explained that campaigning in
Shi’a areas generally takes place in public rallies
sponsored by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
and in husseiniyyas, which are mosque-based
community centers. These gatherings are forums for
both candidates and local community leaders to
express their views on the upcoming elections.
The official said that candidates are also seeking
the support of tribal sheikhs and leading clerics.
He said that NGO’s are almost entirely responsible
for sponsoring campaign activities in the Kurdish
region. He noted that the Kurds have a
better-established civil society and greater
experience with elections given their relative
autonomy from the regime in Baghdad since the early
1990s.
Both the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have networks of
civic organizations including women’s groups,
student groups and professional groups, which they
are mobilizing for the campaign. The KDP and the PUK
have formed a joint party list, the Kurdistan
Alliance, to compete for seats in the Transitional
National Assembly, which will be charged with
writing Iraq’s new constitution.
The official said that posters are going up across
Baghdad, advertising the party symbols and ballot
numbers for various party lists. It is important for
parties to communicate their ballot numbers since
voters will be allowed to choose only one entry out
of more than 100 parties and independent candidates
running for seats on the Assembly.
He said that candidates in Sunni areas are also
speaking to voters at private gatherings in people’s
homes. Working through networks of friends and
associates, they find opportunities to address
potential supporters in informal settings.
Unemployment, health care and crime are the issues
weighing most heavily on the minds of the Iraqi
voters, according to a survey commissioned by the
International Republican Institute (IRI). The
survey, conducted by an Iraqi polling firm, included
interviews with nearly 2,000 eligible voters from
across Iraq in late November and early December of
2004.
More than a quarter of respondents said they would
base their votes on candidates’ and parties’ views
regarding important issues and constitutional
matters. On the economy, voters said they wanted to
hear proposals for job creation and wage increases.
On social issues, they are looking for greater
access to basic education, an increased role for
religion in state affairs and better access to
health care. On security matters, voters want to see
an increase in the number and training of police
officers.
Voters in the survey expressed a strong preference
for national, unitary, cosmopolitan, faith-based and
intellectual parties.
The poll also indicated that 84 percent of Iraqis
intend to vote in the January 30 elections. The
numbers are in excess of 90 percent in predominantly
Shi’a and Kurdish areas. In Sunni areas, the numbers
are closer to 55 percent.
The State Department official noted that senior
Shi’a cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a
fatwa, or religious edict, telling people that it is
their duty to vote. He said that this is having a
tremendous impact on voter intentions in Shi’a
areas. He also observed that the Kurds have more
experience with elections and are therefore more
comfortable with the process.
The majority of the respondents in the IRI survey
who said they do not intend to vote offered no
explanation for their decision. However, 12 percent
cited the security situation as a factor, and only 2
percent said they had chosen to refrain from voting
due to a call for a boycott of the elections.
The State Department official said the IECI and
security forces are studying ways to adjust their
plans in order to ensure greater security on
Election Day, particularly in Sunni areas. He said
they would likely scale back the number of polling
sites, with an eye to choosing easily defensible
locations, and increase the number of voting
stations at each site in order to process voters
more rapidly.
He added that arrangements are being made for people
who were displaced from their homes in Fallujah to
vote at alternative locations.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of
International Information Programs, U.S. Department
of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov )
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com .
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