Iraqi elections

Poststructural Pub
1

from
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7475713

Iraqis Brave Bombs to Vote in Their Millions
Sun Jan 30, 2005 09:12 AM ET
By Luke Baker

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across Iraq, millions turned out to vote Sunday, defying insurgents who threatened a bloodbath.

Suicide bombs and mortars killed at least 27 people, but voters still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years. In some places they cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, in others they shared chocolates.

Even in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a U.S. assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited to vote.

“We want to be like other Iraqis, we don’t want to always be in opposition,” said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after he voted.

In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and cheered at one voting station. In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, U.S. and local officials said turnout was surprisingly high.

One of the first to vote was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad’s fortress-like Green Zone.

“Thanks be to God,” he told reporters, emerging from the booth with his right index finger stained with bright blue ink to show he had voted. “I hope everyone will go out and vote.”

In the relatively secure Kurdish north, people flowed steadily to the polls. One illiterate man in Arbil, 76-year-old Said Rasool, came alone and was turned away, unable to read the ballot paper. He said he would return with someone to help.

Even in the so-called “triangle of death,” a hotbed of Sunni insurgency south of Baghdad, turnout was solid, officials said.

FESTIVE VOTING

In mainly Shi’ite Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city, hundreds of voters queued patiently at polling centers. “I am not afraid,” said Samir Khalil Ibrahim. “This is like a festival for all Iraqis.”

2

I was just sitting here wondering if the major networks will be doing exit polls…or if they’ll call the election based on .001% of the vote. :roll:

Susan

3

“Officials said turnout among the 14 million eligible voters appeared higher than the 57 percent that had been predicted, although it was too soon to tell for sure.”

From the Associated Press

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=1&u=/nm/20050130/wl_nm/iraq_election_scene_dc

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Iraqi official puts voter turnout above 70 per cent(DPA)
30 January 2005

Cairo - More than 70 percent of the electorate cast their votes on Sunday in the country’s first free elections in a half-century, according to an Iraqi election official.

Speaking at a televised news conference in Baghdad, the official said 72 percent of 13 million registered voters had cast ballots, with polls not expected to close until 5 p.m. (1400 GMT).

The official’s statement could not be independently corroborated. Available accounts from polling centres indicated robust turnout in some Shia and Kurdish areas, but low turnout in many Sunni areas.

In neighbouring Jordan, the organization responsible for conducting the absentee ballot said nearly 66 per cent of 280,000 voters registered with the organization had cast their ballots on Friday and Saturday. The voters were spread across 14 countries.

On Sunday, the final day of absentee balloting, officials of the International Organization for Immigration said out-of-country voting was going smoothly.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/January/focusoniraq_January270.xml&section=focusoniraq

5

PRO-U.S. MAYOR HAS TARGET ON HIS BACK

By JOSH WILLIAMS

January 30, 2005 – BAGHDAD — The man replacing the mayor of Baghdad — who was assassinated for his pro-American loyalties — says he is not worried about his ties to Washington.
In fact, he’d like to erect a monument to honor President Bush in the middle of the city.

“We will build a statue for Bush,” said Ali Fadel, the former provincial council chairman. “He is the symbol of freedom.”

Fadel’s predecessor, Ali al-Haidari, was gunned down Jan. 4 when militants opened fire on his armor-covered BMW as it traveled with a three-car convoy.

Fadel said he received numerous threats on his life as the council chairman, and expects to get many more in his new post.

“My life is cheap,” Fadel said. “Everything is cheap for my country.”

As Iraq prepared for a volatile election that is being watched across the world, Fadel heaped praise on the United States.

Fadel acknowledged that many in his country appear ungrateful for America’s foreign assistance. He said most Iraqis are still in “shock” over the changes, and need time to adjust.

Any public monument to Bush is likely to further incense terrorist forces, who have attacked American troops and their supporters for months.

Fadel said he is undaunted.

“We have a lot of work and we are especially grateful to the soldiers of the U.S.A. for freeing our country of tyranny,” Fadel said.

As for his own protection, the new mayor will be traveling in a new $150,000 SUV complete with bulletproof windows and flat-resistant tires.

http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/39526.htm

6

I’ve been skeptical of this whole thihg, but count me as one who is impressed as hell that so many people voted knowing they could die. Hell, we won’t even go out to vote if it’s raining.

7

It will be interesting to see how (or if) the USA will be able to keep the “rule of the majority” from turning into the rule of the Shia majority.

Still, good for the Iraqs!

g

8

I’m really delighted with how things have gone so far. I also admit I’m surprised. But the premature celebrations on another thread really make me wonder how this has been reported by the media in the US and elsewhere. Here are just a few points made on a news magazine program on Australian TV tonight.

  1. This election is really only to elect a government for one year whose job it is to put in place a democratic infrastructure.

  2. Although higher than expected, voting numbers were much lower in Sunni-dominated areas.

  3. If civil war is to be averted, Sunni leaders who boycotted the elections will have to be represented in the parliament. That means they will have to be brought in by invitation, presumably displacing someone who wants the job and was on the ballot. Ironically, to the extent that the government is democratic it won’t be truly representative; to the extent that it is truly representative it won’t be wholly democratic. That, of course, is the point of the Sunni boycott.

  4. People are expected to have voted along ethnic and tribal lines. How could they have done otherwise? No pan-ethnic parties exist. We didn’t even know who was standing until the day of the election.

  5. No party will come even close to getting an outright majority. That pretty much means that very different groups are going to have to reach an accomodation that satisfies everyone involved.

  6. To avert civil war, the Shi’ites and Kurds are going to have to refrain from payback, even though they have a clear majority and even though both groups suffered cruelly at the hands of Sunni Saddam loyalists. This is in a part of the world in which the blood fued is a part of the culture.

That said, so far, very good. One cause for optimism is that the insurgents failed to deliver the massive blow promised. But no insurgency of the magnitude of the one we have witnessed could have occurred without significant grass roots support. If support starts to drain away, we might see an end to the current troubles rather quickly. But two big question marks remain, even if this were to occur. Can the Sunnis be persuded to trust the majority? Can the Shi’ites be persuded to exercise restraint, despite their absolute majority as a group? Let’s hope the answer to both questions is yes.

Time for a beer perhaps. But let’s keep the champagne on ice for a few more months at least.

9

Mr. Wombat:

Except for the name of the country and the inhabitants, that list could well fit the American history circa 1776 - 1860.

A man much wiser than I once wrote:

Democracy has to be good – not perfect

(Jonah Goldberg), Jan. 14, 2005
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/jg20050114.shtml

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Thanks for shouting.

You miss my point entirely. I’m not expecting or asking for a perfect democracy in Iraq. We don’t have one of those anywhere. What I want to see before I crack out the champagne is an imperfectly working democracy, not simply an election that might conceivably lead to one. One point I omitted from my list was a claim that over 95% of transplanted democracies fail. If that’s right, the odds are not good. American democracy was not transplanted.

When the war was declared ‘won’ quite a while ago, I suggested that it would be time to celebrate only when the peace has been won. That still hasn’t happened. This is a promising step in the right direction but nothing more than that.

11

I was very worried that the typical Iraqi was unable to accept, and perhaps even incapable of accepting ,the personal responsibility that a democracy demands. However, the high voter turnout has made me think again. Maybe they can handle it. I sure hope so.

12

While you have some valid points, your behavior here is like going to a wedding and after the toast is made, carrying on, talking about how 40% or 50% of marriages fail. How the odds are very much against the new couple and the reasons why. Then citing articles about failed marriages and telling stories about unhappy married couples if they some how manage to stay married. How you will be ready to toast when the couple celebrates their first anniversary or whatever. In my opiniion, this is rude and boorish behavior and I am calling you on it, because I proposed the toast and started this thread. To make up for that you can buy the next round :slight_smile:.

The election in Iraq may turn out to be a historical footnote in a history of dictatorships. However, there is a chance, even if it is only 5%, that it is a seminal event on the level of the Berlin Wall coming down, or the end of Apartheid in South Africa. That my friend is worthy of a toast, even if the odds are against freedom loving people in that part of the world.

44 people died on election day. The Iraqis that braved death, and continuing threat of death did more than most readers here ever will for the cause of freedom. Whatever the long term outcome their bravery and courage on election day is worthy of a toast. Whether it be champagne, beer, ginger ale, water, go and raise your glass with the rest of us.

  • Bill
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What Bill said!

No matter the long term outcome, this election day will be long remembered.

14

Not guilty as charged, but since I do see some cause for optimism I’d be happy to shout a beer. :wink:

Why not guilty? When 20% of both the bride and the groom boycott the marriage and a large number of invited guests are too frightened to come, I’m reluctant to offer those who want an unqualified celebration at a safe distance anything too intoxicating, and especially so when they carry on as though this were a perfectly ordinary wedding. Since some of the missing bits of bride and groom are necessary for their functioning as a married couple even in the short term, it isn’t a marriage at all until we either find the missing bits or figure out a way of doing without them.

None of the points I mentioned were my own. These points have been the dominant theme on news magazine shows on Australian TV since the election. Australia is part of the coalition. Are you seriously telling me that US media analysts aren’t urging extreme caution? If so I’m flabbergasted.

I rather hope the odds are better than 5%. I made that clear.

If the toast is for the bravery of those who turned out I’ll happily toast that in any liquid you choose. That is something I have unqualified admiration for. I’ll also toast those brave enough to stand, especially in Sunni dominated regions. Without qualification.

I sensed however that the toast called was for a success that simply hasn’t happened yet. I hope it happens, but I won’t drink a toast in anticipation. If I’m wrong, I’ll gladly apologise. But in view of your analogy which doesn’t even limp, let alone walk, I don’t think I am wrong. There are at least two separate issues here. As for the bravery of a large number of Iraqis, I couldn’t agree more. So, on that one at least, my shout and bottoms up.

15

I find it absolutely amazing that 70+% turned out to vote.

I find it absolutely embarressing that we routinely have 30% show up for elections in this country.

Missy

16

Two questions.

  1. Which were the blue areas and which were red?
  2. Did they at least get an “I VOTED” sticker? That seems to get people in my area to vote.

REAL QUESTION

Who was on the ballot and what did they stand for? I missed that part. I think it would be as interesting to see how they voted. What is the significance of the voter’s choice?

17

Here’s the short answer to your questions. With all the triumphalism, I wonder why it’s taken so long for you to get an answer?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3971635.stm

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Wombat, thanks for the link. I was really happy to see the word

but neither of my browsers would render the pages properly. :frowning: I now remember why I am so out of practice.