|
| about this site |
who we are |
site map |
reading tips |
teaching tips |
student tips |
build vocab |
|
|
For the rest of the month, world attention is likely to gradually shift from our tsunami-ravaged region to the January 30 elections in Iraq — if they occur, that is. The security situation has been so bad that many prominent Iraqis believe they should be postponed. Members of the new Iraqi police force and the national guard have been the prime targets and many people are wondering how security forces can ensure a safe polling day if they are unable to protect themselves. Of course, US troops will be out in large numbers — 30,000 in Baghdad alone — so that should help. Both Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and US President George Bush are adamant that the elections will go forward, so they probably will. A delay would also not sit well with the majority Shiite population who stand to gain the most. There are fears that they could mount an insurgency if they the elections are delayed. Up until now, the resistance has come mainly from the Sunni part of the country, which held a privileged position during Saddam Hussein’s days in power. There is a lot of confusion as to just what kind of an election it is. It is certainly nothing like next month’s Thai election where a new parliament and eventually a prime minister will be the result. Instead, Iraqis are voting for vague slates of candidates aligned with powerful political groups throughout the country. Essentially, the purpose of the election is to elect another interim government. The winning candidates will join the brand-new 237-seat transitional National Assembly. In turn, the Assembly will choose the country’s transitional government. Its main responsibility, however, will be to write a new constitution that is then supposed to be approved or rejected by Iraqi people in a referendum scheduled for next autumn. If all goes well, there will be another election and Iraqis will finally have a freely elected government by the end of the year. This may sound good, but the problems are enormous. First, of course, is the security situation that may discourage many voters from going to the polls in the first place. Then there is the likely boycott from Sunni voters which means the election result may not be representative — a potentially huge problem. And there are still more problems. Here is how the young Iraqi woman who writes the well-known blog Baghdad Burning (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/) describes them: “First is the fact that, technically, we don’t know the candidates. We know the principal heads of the lists but we don’t know who exactly will be running. It really is confusing. They aren’t making the lists public because they are afraid the candidates will be assassinated. "Another problem is the selling of ballots. We’re getting our ballots through the people who give out the food rations in the varying areas … Many, many, many people are not going to vote. Some of these people are selling their voting cards for up to $400. The word on the street is that these ballots are being bought by people coming in from Iran. "Yet another issue is the fact that on all the voting cards, the gender of the voter, regardless of sex, is labelled 'male'. Now, call me insane, but I found this slightly disturbing... "All of this has given the coming elections a sort of sinister cloak. There is too much mystery involved and too little transparency. It is more than a little bit worrisome.” Keep all these problems in mind as you follow the run-up to the election in the coming weeks.
|
