The day has come
Nermeen Al-Mufti takes stock of Sunday's elections across Iraq
It's elections day in Iraq, the day everyone has been waiting for. Despite stringent security measures, dozens of civilians have been killed or wounded, along with six policemen, mostly in Baghdad. Up to 20 suicide and mortar attacks have been reported. Mayhem apart, the high turnout is an indication that the Iraqis have had enough and want a solution. "We are giving the politicians, the Americans and the UN a chance to set things right once and for all in the war-torn country," said one voter.
Baghdad
Before elections day, all access between the two halves of Baghdad was cut off. People could cross from one side of the city to the other, but only through checkpoints in which they needed to show their IDs and give a good reason for why they are travelling. The US Embassy came under mortar shelling. The Eighth Armoured Battalion of the "new" Iraqi army, the police, and US vehicles were deployed in force. And the sound of explosions rang in the distance.
This is how elections day started in Baghdad.
A thin trickle of voters appeared at the polling centres in the early hours of the day. Then suicide bombers staged several attacks. Then things changed. By mid-day, crowds gathered at the polling centres to vote. It was as if the voters decided, en masse and with no prior agreement, that enough is enough.
Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Saadi Al-Ani, from the Political Science Department of Baghdad University, says, "I do not expect a sweeping victory for List 169, the list which claims to have Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani's support. The reason I think so is that voters have turned up in such great numbers, as if to say that they want a political solution, not mayhem and blood in the name of Islam." Al-Ani expects 10 out of the 171 registered lists to make a good showing, including those of Iyad Allawi, Adnan Pachachi, Abdel- Aziz Al-Hakim, the Kurds, the Turkoman, Ghazi Al- Yawar, and Raad Mawlud Mokhallis. The lists he named include a fair portion of Sunni politicians.
The turnout was modest in Haifa Street, Abu Ghraib and Al-Dawra. But voters turned out in force in Al- Azamiya (a stronghold of Sunnis and former Baath supporters), Al-Sudr, Al-Kazimiya, Al-Amel, and the outskirts of Baghdad.
Al-Ani, who voted in Al-Gamaah district in west Baghdad, says he voted for the "Iraqiyoun" (Iraqis) list of interim President Al-Yawar. He did so because he wants Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan, whose name is on the list, to win. Asmaa Nagat, Al- Ani's wife and a professor of literature at Al- Mustansariya University, said she voted for the Iraqiya (Iraqi) list because "if given the time, Iyad Allawi will work for the restoration of peace to Iraq."
Rafah Al-Azam, who decided to vote at the last moment says, "we have no other choice to save ourselves. We want to see a national government formed and a constitution written. We want to see the promises of the multi-national forces come true. Before the elections, leaflets were distributed saying that the multi- national forces can protect your life and freedom until you choose the government, and that the multi- national forces will withdraw when the government asks them to do so." Al-Azam remains sceptical, however over the US promises. "The US forces have lied before. We pin our hopes on the Iraqi government because the resistance has not come up with a political alternative." She voted for the Iraqiya list of Allawi.
With the polling centres closed, a curfew was imposed in Baghdad. The bridges remained closed and the sound of explosions and light arms fire continued to be heard. Then people started talking about voting irregularities that took place during the day, such as the tardiness in opening some centres, the insufficient ballot forms in others and the occasional attempt by observers of certain parties to influence the voters. The vote count began under strict security because the voting boxes remain a possible target for attack.
Mosul
Second to Baghdad, Mosul is the largest city in the country. It is overwhelmingly Sunni but has a high ratio of Christians; a solid Turkoman community, particularly in Talafar and Al-Iyadiya; and a sprinkling of Kurds. Elections day began with a suicide attack against a US patrol. Five polling centres were also attacked. As expected, the turnout was slow or non- existent in the eastern parts of the city. Ballot boxes and ballots are said not to have arrived at most of the Mosul stations until one hour after the voting ended, which deprived hundreds of thousands from voting.
In Talafar, which has a strong Turkoman and Shia presence, a Turkoman official says that only one per cent of the voters turned up and they voted mostly for the list of Al-Hakim, which includes Turkoman and Shia candidates. The Turkoman official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claims the US forces and National Guard troops began firing at the city as of mid- day without reason. The firing stopped at 5pm, when the polling centres were already closed.
In Sangar, the National Guard and Peshmerga forces were said to have prevented the Turkoman from voting. The ballot boxes are said not to have arrived in Al-Ayadiya until 6pm, a full hour after the official end of voting. Despite the strong presence of Iraqi and US forces in the city and its outskirts, the mujahidin filled the walls with warnings to potential voters, pledging to turn the city into "an Islamic model" in Iraq.
In Baquba, near Diyala, the turnout was 50 per cent, according to estimates prepared by the Elections Commission. Many are believed to have voted for the Iraqiyoun list, with the Iraqiya, National Coalition, Kurdish Coalition, and Turkoman Front lists also drawing support. In the local council elections, most of the votes are believed to have gone to the Islamic Party, which participated in the local elections in order to counter Kurdish demands in the province. The Kurds seek to control the oil-rich Khaniqin, which is largely Shia and situated within the perimeters of Diyala.
According to the Elections Commission, the turnout in the rural areas of Diyala was 80 per cent. But the turnout was modest in Al-Anbar, Al-Ramadi, Falluja, Hadithah and nearby towns. A suicide bombers attacked a US patrol in Hadithah. According to available information, 40 families from Falluja voted in Karbala. In Falluja itself, only a handful turned up at the polling stations, perhaps because the latter were situated inside US bases. Voting was nearly impossible in Heit, where US forces exchanged fire with resistance fighters. The voting in Salaheddin Governorate was relatively smooth. In Tuzkhurmatu, a major town 75km south of Kirkuk, 90 per cent of the voters showed up. Tuzkhurmatu is known to have a considerable Shia and Kurdish presence.
Kirkuk
Explosions preceded elections day, with polling centres being the favourite target. On the morning of the vote, just before the polling centres opened, Kirkuk airport, now a major US base, was pounded with mortars. The sporadic crackling of light arms fire was heard in parts of the town but the turnout was solid. Voters ignored the warnings written on the walls in the days running up to the elections. They ignored the leaflets handed out by the Al-Qaeda group. The Turkoman were determined to use the elections as a means to turn the city into one of co-existence between Iraq's ethnic groupings. They had no intention of letting the Kurds gain control of the city. They claim that Kurds have brought thousands of voters from out of town and that they were using unofficial papers to vote. Several voting irregularities are said to have taken place. Anwar Biraqdar, secretary-general of the Turkoman Justice Party, who contested the elections on the list of the Turkoman Front, told the Weekly that the Elections Commission had described the irregularities as minor, though he claimed they were not. "The commission itself was responsible for part of the irregularities, caving in to Kurdish demands, and failing to check (voters against) the official documents," Biraqdar pointed out.
According to Biraqdar, observers reported that two days ahead of the elections, large numbers of Kurds were brought in from Al-Sulaimaniya and Irfbil and housed in schools in Rahim Awa as well as with Kurdish families. Polling centres were opened at 6am instead of 7am to allow outsiders to vote without the supervision of the observers. Biraqdar claimed that some Kurds had voted more than once, for their fingers were not dyed to prevent that possibility, in violation of the standard procedure.
Diaaeddin Al-Naaib, head of the Kirkuk branch of the Independent Turkoman Movement, says the Kurds were collecting signatures "to call for a referendum, to demand the annexation of Kirkuk and to press for independence. This happened at the polling centres which is a definite violation of the regulations.
"Other irregularities took place. In some cases, officials claimed they had run out of blank ballots. This cannot be true, because the ballots were distributed in sufficient numbers."
As the counting began, further attacks were mounted on the voting centres. The curfew was extended till mid-day of the following day in order to ensure that the ballot boxes were transported safely. The Turkoman satellite television station kept airing exit polls, claiming that the Turkoman Front scored a landslide victory in both the parliamentary and local elections. At midnight, unidentified gunmen, riding in police cars, attacked the offices of the Turkoman satellite television station.
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