Baghdad - Campaigning in Iraq's second set of parliamentary
polls since the 2003 invasion is set to begin next week - but
this time, many Iraqis complain they expect little from the vote.
The electoral commission's decision this week to reverse its ban
on some 500 candidates in the March 7 election, due to alleged
connections to the former ruling Baath Party, has drawn widespread
criticism from the country's Shiite Muslim majority.
The Baath Party is banned under Iraq's constitution, and those
with connections to the dissolved party are barred from standing for
office.
Prominent Sunni Muslim politicians such as Saleh al-Mutlaq, who
heads the influential Iraqi National Dialogue Front, were among those
banned from participating.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on Thursday called the
reversal 'illegal and unconstitutional.'
But previously, many Iraqi Sunnis had felt disenfranchised by
changes to electoral law that they said would decrease the number of
seats they could expect to win.
Arab politicians in key, disputed districts such as Kirkuk had
threatened to boycott the polls if the law was not changed to meet
their demands.
Following the ban, they called for tight international
supervision, saying they feared fraud and intimidation. Its
reversal may ensure the participation of some Sunnis, who may
otherwise have boycotted the election.
The Iraqi parliament will convene for a special session to discuss
the lifting of the ban on Sunday.
The Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition had
blasted the commission's decision to allow 'criminals' and elements
of the former regime 'whose hands are stained with the blood of
Iraqis,' to participate.
The reaction to their decision prompted the electoral commission
Thursday to postpone the start of campaigning by five days until
February 12, to allow for more time to settle the ban.
Such heated rhetoric may convince more Iraqis to vote, but if so,
politicians will have to conquer a widespread sentiment that little
will change when campaigning does begin.
'I do not think the electoral campaigns will be any different than
before,' Sayid Asad Abul-Majid, a 43-year-old civil servant from
Baghdad, told the German Press Agency dpa.
'The competing sides have shown their true colours from the
beginning. Everything will be about corruption, the Baath Party,
revealing scandals, and bringing others down, while making promises
to rebuild and to establish national unity and to improve services.
'We've heard these promises before, but we've never seen the
results,' he said.
Entesar Ahmed, 28, said she was still unsure whether she would
vote.
'I don't think these elections will change the political landscape
in Iraq,' she said.
'We may see some reshuffling of roles,' she predicted. 'But the
religious powers will still control the parliament, and the secular
groups will only have a marginal role, especially since many liberal
and secular groups threw their lots in with the forces dominated by
religion in order to guarantee seats.'
Others pointed to the large parties' financial advantage in having
the means to publish posters and leaflets, buy advertising time on
satellite television stations, and to organise large rallies around
the country.
'The coming few days will illustrate the real financial means of
the large parties, many of which are wrongly using public funds and
receiving funding from abroad in order to carry out their campaigns,'
Bahgat al-Sammarai, 39, said.
'With any luck, Iraqis will know who these parties are and will
realize their dependence on foreign influences,' al-Sammarai said.
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