Election campaign finds leaves many Iraqis cynical (News Feature)

By Kadhem al-Attabi Feb 4, 2010, 18:20 GMT

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.