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Iraqi deputy PM calls for "rolling"
provincial elections to begin soon
25.1.2008
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January
25, 2008
DAVOS, Switzerland: Iraq's deputy prime
minister said Thursday that he favors a series of
"rolling" local elections as part of a crucial push
to devolve power to the nation's provinces, and that
the first votes are likely to begin "soon."
Dr Barham Saleh said the idea was part of the
Provincial Powers Act that must be ratified by
Iraq's parliament and that passage of the
legislation was vital. The bill is among a list of
key legislation aimed at reconciling Iraq's rival
ethnic and sectarian communities but which have been
stalled for months.
"This is a very crucial piece of legislation that
will define the character of the Iraqi state,"
Saleh, an Iraqi Kurd, told a panel on peace and
stability at the World Economic Forum in Davos,www.ekurd.net
Switzerland. Saleh said
a draft of the legislation "involves devolving power
from the central (government) to the provinces which
is crucial for local democracy." |
Dr. Barham Saleh Iraq's deputy premier |
Saleh did not give any details on where or exactly
when such votes would begin, but he singled out
Sunni areas as being of particular concern. Saleh
said the security situation in the areas during the
last vote prevented the majority of the population
from taking part, and it was important to make those
populations feel they were back in the system.
"I suspect there will be rolling elections sometime
soon because the political demand from the local
communities is really growing for that," he said,
adding that the votes "will be part of the political
track that we are talking about of an inclusive
system."
A rolling vote would enable the government to hold
elections in provinces that are relatively stable,
and defer voting in hotspots like Diyala that are
still quite violent.
Though Saleh did not specifically mention Shiite
areas, a rolling vote would also allow new elections
in Shiite areas where the political landscape has
changed dramatically since local administrations
were elected three years ago.
Some groups that now have wide followings fared
poorly in the January 2005 balloting.
In his comments, Saleh also said Iraq still faces
daunting and profound challenges, but that the
relative drop in violence over the past few months
was encouraging.
"I can say for the first time in a long, long time
that maybe Iraq is on the road to win the battle
against Islamic fanaticism and religious extremism,"
he said.
The deputy prime minister said the country owed its
success in ratcheting down violence in recent months
to politics, more than military tactics.
"The lesson of last year is that military might is
not enough to defeat terrorism. It is about
politics, it is about inclusiveness and it about
giving the community a stake in the fight against
terrorism," he said.
AP
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