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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Polls and new realities in Iraq |
| 2004-12-18 |
| HERE is an overview of the Iraq scenario today. Over 11,000 candidates have entered the fray for the January elections and campaigning has begun in right earnest; insurgency has been considerably subdued though explosions and the fire-fights continue; resistance is on the wane; Saddam Hussein has met his defence lawyer for the first time after his arrest, preparatory to the trial of the cases against him; infamous 'Chemical Ali' is being brought before the court this week. Dear readers, we cannot close our eyes to realities. There is a positive turn-around in the situation in a country where people were at the mercy of a dictator and his men for close to three decades. Under Saddam, politics and elections meant Baathists, and none else. Today politics and elections mean over 200 registered political parties vying for their slots in the National Assembly and other representative bodies. It is not only the Iraqis within the country who will vote, but also overseas Iraqis spread over 15 countries, including UAE, will have the opportunity to vote, under UN-supervised polls. Those who thought violence was the way to settle scores with the Americans, or to disrupt life in Iraq and fish out of troubled waters, have not succeeded; they could not hinder the election process so far. Violence has subsided in Najaf; and in Fallujah. Have a look at the election scene: Some 85 per cent of the voter registration centres are operational — the only exception being of Anbar (Fallujah, Ramadi) and Mosul. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has announced his candidature and would be leading his Iraqi National Accord Movement at the polls, fielding 240 candidates for the 275-member interim National Assembly and 18 provincial councils. Influential leaders like Adnan Pachachi are also participating, with a list of 70 candidates from his Independent Democratic Gathering. An opportunity has opened up for all to try their luck at the elections, and lead the government if they are the people's choice. This is a long way away from the uncertainties that dogged the Iraq scenario after the overthrow of the dictatorial Saddam Hussein regime. Much water has flown down Iraq's great rivers, and a mood of optimism is slowly setting in. Whoever thought, in the aftermath of the US occupation there that things would come to this pass? |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #1 I don't know who Mohammed A.R. Galadari is, but it certainly is interesting that the Khaleej Times chose to print this. Perhaps they are figuring out that the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-12-18 9:53:15 AM |