CAMPAIGNING IN Iraq’s parliamentary election ended yesterday as Iraqi exiles began three days of voting in 16 countries, from Australia in the east to the US in the west.
Eighteen million of the country’s 27 million citizens have registered to vote, including three million youngsters who will tomorrow take part for the first time in a national poll.
Voters casting ballots at 500 polling places in 18 provinces will choose 325 representatives for the unicameral national assembly based in Baghdad.
Voters will make their selections among 6,200 candidates fielded by 86 entities or standing as independents. To ensure that both literate and illiterate Iraqis vote correctly, they are asked to tick a box on their ballot paper opposite the symbol, number and name of a sole candidate or single list.
Dr Faleh Francis Yousef, a Chaldean Christian from Baghdad living in Suleimaniya, said the system adopted by Iraq is truly “one man, one vote”. He told The Irish Times that the ballots of internally displaced Iraqis are counted in their home provinces, as are the votes of exiles. Dr Yousef said his wife and son, who live in Jordan, plan to vote in the capital, Amman. Some 750,000 Iraqi refugees live in Jordan and 1.5 million in Syria.
He observed that a solid vote for non-sectarian parties could undermine the divisive ethno-sectarian regime imposed by the US. “Many people now reject sectarianism but it could take another four-year election cycle for the non-sectarian people to become a majority.” Once this happens, Iraqis might feel they are Iraqis “first” rather than identify with ancestral communities.
While there have been few incidents of straightforward campaign violence in the Kurdish autonomous region, vicious attacks against the democratisation process have been mounted by suspected al-Qaeda affiliates in Arab-majority provinces. The targets were early voters and policemen in Baghdad and Baqouba, 60km northeast of the capital. At least 50 people died in these strikes and scores were wounded. The “Islamic State of Iraq” is seen as the most likely culprit but Shia rivals of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has promoted himself as the man who brought security to Iraq, cannot be ruled out.
Opinion polls show that the “State of Law” coalition headed by Mr Maliki could win 20 per cent of the seats, enough to form a government with coalition partners. A sectarian Shia who has tried to project a nationalist non-sectarian image, Mr Maliki is, however, distrusted by many Iraqis.
The secular coalition led by former premier Iyad Allawi could become the second largest bloc by securing 17 per cent of the seats.
The United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition dominated by Shia religious parties tied to Iran, could win 9 per cent, the Kurds 12-15 per cent and the rest will go to tribal, Sunni, Turkoman and Christian personalities and factions.
It could take weeks to form a government. The final result is not due to be verified before early April.