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It's not the vote that
counts
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Such was the security - and fear
of attacks by the resistance - that Iraqi interim
President Ghazi al-Yawar was forced to vote in the
sanctuary of the heavily-fortified Green Zone in
Baghdad on Sunday.
Nevertheless, up to 8 million
Iraqis, about 60% of eligible voters, are believed
to have voted nation-wide, although this could not
be verified in the absence of accredited
independent poll observers . Voters in Shi'ite
and Kurdish areas are reported to have turned out
in large numbers. The turnout in Sunni-dominated
areas like Fallujah and Mosul, where the
insurgency is strongest, and where Sunni leaders
had called for a boycott, was substantially lower.
In the Shi'ite-dominated cities of
southern Iraq, and through much of Baghdad, Iraqis
flocked to the polls. They did so despite
insurgent attacks that left more than 40 people
dead across the country, including nine suicide
bombers.
Officials expect preliminary poll
results in six to seven days and final results in
about 10 days. Voters chose from among 111 parties
for members of 18 provincial parliaments, as well
as a 275-member National Assembly, which will be
empowered to write the country's constitution.
That is scheduled to be followed by a referendum
on the constitution, followed by another round of
elections in December.
One group of
candidates that appeared to do well was the United
Iraqi Alliance, a large coalition of Shi'ite
parties under the umbrella of Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, the country's powerful religious
(Shi'ite) leader. The slate of candidates led by
Iyad Allawi, the prime minister, also appeared to
have done well.
In
central Iraq, which is still the strongest
Ba'athist base, voters stayed away. In the
province of Babil (Babylon), which is the
strongest base of the Ba'ath Party, election
offices were not even opened. Even in the
predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr 
City in
Baghdad (formerly al-Thawra city) many followers
of Muqtada al-Sadr heeded boycott calls, and all
Shi'ite clerics associated with the Sadrist party
in the district denounced the elections as being
held "under US occupation".
Shi'ite
clerics of pure Arab origin, such as Ayatollah
Ahmed al-Hassani al-Baghdadi, not only refused
participation in the elections, but also gave
calls for support of the Iraqi national
resistance. Muqtada asked his followers to stay
away. "Taking into consideration the popularity
and clout enjoyed by the al-Sadr group, one
realizes that not all Shi'ites are participating
in Sunday's polls," Sheikh Hassan al-Zarqani, the
Sadrists' media officer, told a Qatar-based
website. "One also realizes that, on the contrary,
the majority of Shi'ites oppose the elections," he
added.
On the other hand, most non-Arab
pro-Iranian Shi'ite clerics, such as the
influential Sistani and Ayatollah Bashir,
supported the elections.
Opposition in
exile
Asia Times Online spoke to Nada
al-Rubaiee in the Netherlands. Nada is a member of
the central committee of the Iraqi Patriotic
Alliance (IPA), a collection of different Iraqi
groups opposed to the US occupation of Iraq. It is
based in Iraq, as well as in other countries, such
as Syria, Jordan, France and the Netherlands.
Initially it was a small group of mainly
communist Iraqi dissidents. It was virtually
unknown before November 2002, when its leader,
Abdul Jabbar Kubaisi, travelled to Baghdad to meet
with high-ranking Iraqi officials. The move was
part of Saddam Hussein's strategy to make peace
with opposition groups and put together the widest
coalition possible in case of an attack from the
US. According to IPA members, Saddam promised
democratic reforms and Kubaisi decided to side
with the former Iraqi dictator against the
American invasion. In February 2003, the IPA held
a conference in Paris where its delegates pledged
to fight the "American imperial aggression".
Asia
Times Online: Was the
call for a boycott of the election a success?
Nada: Although the "Iraqi
government" parties have spent a lot of money on
the election campaign, the majority of the Iraqi
people oppose the election, and therefore the
majority boycotted it; they see no solution in the
election for their daily problems: clean drinking
water, gas and electricity.
ATol: The majority of people
from cities and provinces like Fallujah, Anbaar
and Mosul boycotted the election; we are talking
here about millions of people.
Nada: The "anti-election"
campaign was relatively strong in the southern
provinces: Basra (where the Ba'ath Party was
founded), Amarah, Nasiria; but the active presence
of the two big Shi'ite political parties supported
by the occupation forces and the Iranian
intelligence services did influence the polls. In
the north, there was no remarkable anti-election
campaign, which was to be expected.
ATol: What was the real
strategy of the opposition groups, both political
and by the militants to prevent people from
casting their votes?
Nada: The Iraqi resistance
has succeeded in establishing two clear fronts:
that of the Iraqi resistance, backed by its
people, and the front of imperialism and its Iraqi
and international tools [the US occupation]. The
Iraqi resistance has a clear goal of defeating the
political agenda of the occupiers; and to reach
this goal the occupation and its political
institutes are legitimate targets of the
resistance. The resistance has made it clear that
all Iraqis should boycott the "election". The
strategy of the political wing(s) of the armed
Iraqi resistance is mainly composed of: spreading
written materials (including writing on walls/
graphics) explaining why people should boycott the
"election". Public meetings - like Friday prayers
- are very essential "tools" in the
anti-occupation campaign: most of the imams made
their statement on the election issue. They have
emphasized the need to boycott the election and to
reject any political process taking place during
the occupation. This was followed by several
arrests of imams, like an imam from Anbaar
province who was arrested due to his
"anti-election" statements.
ATol: What was the role of
external factors, like the Dawa Party, whose
members came from Iran.
Nada: The Shi'ite Dawa Party
(and the Upper Council of the Islamic Revolution
in Iraq (UCIRI) are not an external factor any
more. They are taking part in the current Iraqi
political system and therefore they are involved
in the election campaign. (The vice president,
Ibrahim al-Ja'fary, is a member of the Dawa
Party). The Badr Brigade - the militant wing of
the UCIRI - is promoting the Shi'ite election list
in the southern provinces in Iraq, where they have
a real presence.
ATol: What
are the general feelings in Shi'ite-dominated Sadr
City in Baghdad?
Nada: As you
know, the media in general are trying to ignore
this city. We can't talk on behalf of the people,
but from our side we know that the majority - if
not all the residents - of this city are
boycotting the election. Their religious leader -
Muqtada al-Sadr - is still opposing any political
process, including elections, that is meant to
prolong the occupation or legitimize it.
ATol: What is the Ba'ath
Party really up to now?
Nada: Ba'ath Party members
who are - together with other resistance forces -
involved in the armed resistance are continuing
their struggle against the occupation of the
country. The "election" process will not stop
their fight. As mentioned earlier, they will keep
working on their goal to defeat the political
agenda of the occupiers, using all possible means.
Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau
Chief, Pakistan, Asia Times Online. He can be
reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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