PRAGUE - Across Iraq,
voters and politicians are quietly taking the first
steps toward elections, just 10 weeks away. Posters with
detailed instructions about voter registration can be
seen on the street corners and lamp posts of Baghdad.
Widely circulated handbills and leaflets urge people to
vote.
Voter registration began on November 1 and
is scheduled to continue through December 15. Election
officials are using a food-rationing database from the
era of Saddam Hussein's rule to create their initial
voter list. When Iraqis receive their monthly ration,
they get a sheet of paper listing members of their
family and must report changes or errors on the list.
"Actually, people are asking for the
registration form," said Abu Ammar, a food agent in the
Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad who is helping to
distribute voter registration forms. "They asked us,
'Have you brought them? When will you distribute them?'
We brought them and we are arranging them and
distributing them to families. We give the form to
everyone who comes and those who have not come yet, we
notify them to come. If they can't come, we will deliver
the form to their homes. God willing, we will complete
this process ahead of the election date."
In
Shi'ite Muslim neighborhoods of Baghdad photocopied
statements from clerics who support the elections can be
found posted in stores and coffee shops. Iraq's majority
Shi'ite community represents an estimated 60% of the
country's population and many Shi'ites hope to translate
those numbers into political power through the ballot
box.
Sheikh Ali al-Baghdadi said support for the
election from the top Shi'ite cleric - Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani - means many Shi'ites will vote. "As for
elections, the religious authority talked about
elections and the highest religious authority has issued
a fatwa [religious edict] on elections,"
al-Baghdadi said. "The aim of the elections is to draft
a permanent constitution for the country by an elected
national assembly, which can help prevent the rise of a
new dictator to power."
Iraqi Shi'ites were long
oppressed under Saddam and insist that the parliamentary
ballot goes ahead on time. But matters are more
complicated in some Sunni Muslim areas that have been
marred by violence. Many Sunnis want the election to be
delayed.
One influential Sunni group - the
Association of Muslim Scholars - has called for a
boycott to protest the recent US-led attack on the Sunni
city of Fallujah. The head of the powerful association
is Hareth al-Dhari.
"We call on honest clerics
of our Iraqi people to boycott the forthcoming
elections, which are planned to be held on the remains
of the dead and the blood of the wounded of the people
of Iraqi cities like Fallujah and others and which are
meant to achieve objectives of the occupying forces in
Iraq," al-Dhari said.
Insurgents also have shown
that they want to derail the vote. Gunmen recently
stormed one food distribution center in the northern
city of Mosul and destroyed the election registration
sheets there.
Still, many ordinary Iraqis say
they have no idea about the voting process, the
candidates or even what they are supposed to be voting
for. One recent survey found that many Iraqis still
erroneously think they will be voting for presidential
candidates. Few Iraqis are aware they will be voting to
elect a 275-member National Assembly and governing
councils - or that Iraqi Kurds will be voting to elect
Kurdish parliament members.
Amnna Abd al-Jabbar
is among those Iraqis who say they want to vote but have
difficulty getting information about the process. "It is
necessary for every Iraqi to take part in elections
because it is one of our rights to create a sound
future," al-Jabbar said. "But we know little about
elections because of lack of information. As a citizen
and an educated person, I know nothing about the
candidates and the elections procedures from the media."
The independent electoral commission has been
trying to educate voters through a campaign of
television advertisements. Plans call for the commission
to produce a series of programs to be televised closer
to the election date. The commission also has published
advertisements in newspapers, distributed 10 million
educational pamphlets and provided literature to
non-governmental organizations to distribute in
different provinces. But the precarious security
situation is limiting the distribution of election
information in many areas.
Abir al-Sahlani is a
member of the Iraqi National Coalition party. She said
providing security for the election will be a major
challenge. "My opinion about elections is that they
should be postponed because neither the security
situation nor the Iraqi voters is prepared for what is
coming," al-Sahlani said. "I do not think that we have
enough information. I do not think that the security is
good so that people can go to the election places and
vote. And there are a lot of threats right now against
the Iraqi voters."
There are at least 150
political parties in Iraq that represent every niche of
the population - from communists to prisoners. Analysts
say only 40 to 50 of those parties will meet
registration requirements stipulating a minimum of 500
members as necessary.
Copyright (c) 2004, RFE/RL Inc.
Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20036
