Iraqi Al-Iraqiya supporters. Photo: Al-Jazeera

The second elections in the turbulent eastern part of the fertile crescent otherwise known as Iraq have proven to be different from the ones that were held in 2005. This time there was a lot less mortar fire, a telltale sign that security has improved; there were 6000 candidates and countless coalitions to choose from, and so the Iraqi people finally had the choice to choose. The media has been calling these elections the democratic revolution Iraq has been waiting for, a watershed in the history of Iraq. Is this big bubble of hope obscuring a reality where not so much has changed after all, or is real reform on the horizon? Continue reading for the full story.
See also: NY Times coverage of the elections, DN.se primary election results, SVD.se article on the dismissal of election fraud


Of the 31 million people living in Iraq, 18.9 million are registered voters. However, there are millions living in exile because of the occupation that have not been able to vote. Of the 18.9 million registered voters, 62% or 11.7 million voted. The turnout has actually lessened compared to the previous election when 79.6% of the 10.7 million registered voters voted. The size of the parliament has also increased to 325 seats from 275 seats. The number of seats reserved for women was kept at the same percentage (25%) as before, yealding the new number of 81 seats.

These figures are mind-boggling, but democracy does not have the same good reputation in Iraq as it has in Europe for example. In Europe democracy is perceived as power resting with the people and government accountability. In Iraq democracy has become synonymous with corruption and human rights abuses - it has a bad name, and the US has caused that bad name. Out of all the incidents such as the one at the Abu Graib prison, it is probable that only a few cases are known to the western media. Nevertheless,  the US government has held a continuous dialogue with people opposing participation in the political spectrum. A difference has been made, small but significant enough to bring the parties a little closer together.

The de-bathification of Iraq is still very much in effect. A few weeks before the elections, some 500 candidates were banned from running for office. Certainly, some of these  candidates deserved to be banned, but among them were surely also quite a few candidates that were legitimate and sound. The media said that the contenders who were banned from running were mostly Sunni Bath, but the secretary to the prime minister said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that this was in fact not the case: 70% of them were Shia candidates. This is once again a little bit odd, since the highly dysfunctional committee that was tasked with vetting the candidates is controlled by the Shia alliance which in turn is partly influenced by the mighty neighbor in the East - Iran. The sectarian alliances are once again sipping through the cracks. Nouri Al-Maliki, the current prime minister, allied himself with the Shias against the Sunnis which in turn gave way to an all-over dirty campaigning-game. The Sunnis threatened to boycott the election because of the banning of their candidates, and as a result of this a familiar sectarian split happened. Party members have been murdered and intimidated. Vote-buying is also believed to have been widespread.

The Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki speaking on the Al-Iraqqyia TV channel. Photo: Al-Jazeera

Nouri Al-Maliki is also secretary of the Dawa party which is under Iranian influence and highly respected today. However, it must not be forgotten that the same party was responsible for kidnappings in Beirut and the bombing of the embassies of the US and France in Kuwait 20 years ago.

While the Bath Party might be dead in Iraq, in Syria, Iraq’s neighbor to the west, it is alive and well. Almost two million Iraqis live in Syria and among them arel supporters of the Bath that wish to see the party reinstated. The Syrian Bath party has been blamed for recent attacks in Baghdad, and Iraqi officials claim that they are working with Al-Qaeda.  This would be an interesting development as the Al-Qaeda’s values are completely opposite to those of the Bath. Syrians generally have a very low tolerance for fundamentalists like those in the Al-Qaeda. Iraq and the US are not very happy about Syria openly letting Bath supporters operate from the country, but there are hundreds of thousands of supporters and jailing them all is not an option.

A major difference in this election is the return of Iraqi nationalism. Many contenders have been emphasizing the importance of Iraqi unity and nationalism - a message that sounds very similar to the Arab nationalism that the Bath party advocated. Is it possible that these sectarian values are coming back on a golden plate? This election is probably not going to make any major difference in terms of living standards. The politicians that have been elected rise to office with the massive burden of rebuilding Iraq on their shoulders;  a country where 30 people still die every day because of political violence - where only 25% of the population has access to electricity, and a mere 22% has access to adequate health-care. Today, the government spends 20% of its budget on the military while 70% is spent on salaries and pensions - 60% of all jobs in the country are given by the government.

The Iraqis have now done what they could in this election, but did they really have a choice? Unable to do anything else, they had to vote; and whether this new system of governance was installed with or without their consent, its existence is now a matter of fact. All Iraqis are forced to live under this system. Now that the Iraqis have spoken, they will carefully examine the actions taken by the politicians they put in office - the same ones that have been in office for the past four years.

FERENCZ THUROCZY

Over the course of a few days we will publish three articles dealing with Iraq.  This second article  deals with the elections this week and how they were conducted, and see if they were different from the last elections. Finally, the last article will deal with the oil in Iraq, tied to the current elections and the economy. The next article will be published this monday.