Editorial

Big turnout in Iraq election as Sunnis vote


By Alastair Macdonald and Luke Baker
9 minutes ago



Undeterred by scattered violence, Iraqis voted in overwhelming numbers in an election on Thursday, with minority Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last poll determined not to miss out on power again.

Turnout in 10 hours of voting was at least 10 million, or 67 percent, Election Commission chief Hussein Hendawi told Reuters, much higher than the 58 percent who voted in the previous election on January 30.

The demand to vote was so strong that polling stations were kept open an extra hour to allow those waiting in line to cast ballots. In Saddam Hussein's home province more than 80 percent of voters turned out, an electoral official said.

The largely peaceful vote, which will raise U.S. hopes that a stable government can pave the way for American troops to eventually pull out of Iraq, was in sharp contrast to January's election for an interim assembly, when 40 people died.

Sunni Arabs mostly boycotted that poll but took part with determination and enthusiasm on Thursday, backed by nationalist rebels who vowed to protect voters.

In Falluja turnout touched 70 percent, local officials said, and in Kurdish regions and the Shi'ite south it was also high.

There was a range of complaints about voting irregularities, and allegations flew about attempts to influence the vote in some northern cities, but overall the process went smoothly, the Electoral Commission said in Baghdad.

"I'm delighted to be voting for the first time because this election will lead to American occupation forces leaving," said Jamal Mahmoud, 21, in the battle-scarred Sunni city of Ramadi.

Polls closed shortly after 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) and counting began immediately. As electoral workers opened each ballot box they said a quick prayer. Definitive results are not expected for two weeks or more, the Electoral Commission said.

United Nations envoy Ashraf Qazi was pleased: "All in all it was a good day and a historic day," he told Reuters. The U.S. ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, was also impressed. "The turnout has been dramatically higher," he told Reuters.

SPLIT VOTE?

Informal polling by Reuters around the country showed the ruling Shi'ite Islamist Alliance and their Kurdish allies still dominant in their southern and northern bases respectively.

But there also seemed to be a strong turnout in favor of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who heads a secular slate with candidates from across Iraq's sectarian divides. He has sought to split the previously dominant Islamist Shi'ite vote.

While voting went well generally, two people were killed in mortar attacks in Mosul and Tal Afar in the north and three, including a U.S. Marine, were wounded when a mortar round landed in Baghdad's Green Zone as polls opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT).

The interior minister said a suicide car bomber was shot dead in Baghdad and police said they arrested another east of the capital. The U.S. military separately announced that a Marine had been killed near Ramadi on Wednesday.

But a nationwide three-day traffic ban, and the presence of 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police backed up by U.S. troops, succeeded in protecting 6,000 polling stations.

U.S. diplomats hope that if Sunnis are drawn into the political process, the revolt will be undermined, letting Iraqis gradually take over security without provoking a civil war.

"Ballot boxes are a victory of democracy over dictatorship," said Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari after voting, his finger purple with the dye that prevents double voting and is a symbol of Iraqi democracy. "They've chosen voting over bombs."

SUNNI TURNOUT

In Falluja, west of Baghdad, scene of the biggest battle between U.S. forces and rebels a year ago, a shortage of ballot papers and of vehicles to ferry infirm voters held up voting.

Bitter at the power exercised this year by an interim parliament of Shi'ite Islamists and Kurds, Sunni militants said they would defend polling stations in cities like Ramadi against al Qaeda and other groups who vowed to disrupt the vote.

"Sunni Arabs made a big mistake in boycotting the last election. It left us out of ... writing the constitution," said Talal Ali, 25, as he voted for the first time in Kirkuk.

He backed one of the main Sunni lists which wants to amend the constitution, agreed two months ago, that Sunnis say could hand Kirkuk's oil riches to independence-minded Kurds and give Shi'ites control over the southern oilfields.

Once a coalition government is formed, which could take weeks, the first task of the new parliament is to address Sunni grievances over the constitution, passed with Shi'ite and Kurdish votes in a referendum. Another challenge is building up Iraqi security forces so foreign troops can go home.

While those battles lie ahead, there was hope of a better future among voters on Thursday.

In Baghdad, Shi'ite Hadi Mishaal, wounded in the 1991 Gulf War and forced by the traffic ban to hobble 2 km (over a mile) on a crutch to vote with his wife, said: "I hope we can have a government that will help me and give me my rights."

In Kirkuk, 60-year-old Sunni Arab Asmael Nouri said: "It is the first time I have tasted the freedom to express my view."

For many in the 60-percent Shi'ite majority, oppressed by Saddam, the vote was another chance to seek redress.

But there were some signs secular parties, notably that led by Allawi, were cutting into the 48 percent vote the Islamist bloc took in January.

"We want freedom ... to drink alcohol, dance and go to nightclubs," said Allawi supporter Jasim Faisal, 34, in the southern Shi'ite city of Samawa.

Yet underlying a vote in which Iraqis can choose among 231 lists, is also widespread sectarian fear and mistrust.

Healing the rifts was the campaign theme of Allawi, appointed prime minister last year under U.S. occupation.

Many believe he could lead a broad coalition government, a development Washington might endorse after losing patience with Jaafari, whose term has seen the rise of violent pro-government militias and warm ties with America's enemies in Shi'ite Iran.

"Since no single party will have a majority there will be a need for a very broad-based coalition," said Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador. "There's many other steps to come. It's important to keep up the momentum."

Grigore, te rugam sa ne ierti! Americanii astia fac numai lucruri bune, mai ceva ca sovieticii in '45! Soldatul american uraste tirania si iubeste democratia si copiii. Americanii nu fac niciodata rau, iar peste tot pe unde calca soldatul american aduce lapte si miere. Te rod iarta-ne Grigore, ca o sa fim cuminti si ascultatori!

Textul asta pe care l-ati scris dovedeste ca nu aveti argumente si va enerveaza orice stire buna care vine din Irak. Fiindca media placuta dv. are grija sa va transmita numai dezastre si nenorociri, bombe si morti, fara sa sufle o vorba de progresele care se fac. Sa va mai zic sieu una: stiti ca salariul real a crescut cam de vreo 8 ori fata de vremea lui Saddam?

A compara SUA cu URSS, armata americana su cea rosie, etc. este o lipsa de decentza fata de milioanele de victime ale comunismului.

La 2005-12-15 20:32:15, zokibis a scris:

> Grigore, te rugam sa ne ierti! Americanii astia fac numai lucruri
> bune, mai ceva ca sovieticii in '45! Soldatul american uraste tirania
> si iubeste democratia si copiii. Americanii nu fac niciodata rau, iar
> peste tot pe unde calca soldatul american aduce lapte si miere. Te
> rod iarta-ne Grigore, ca o sa fim cuminti si ascultatori!
>