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Iraq-Jordan

Iraqi election officials resigning due to threats

2005-01-02

Majid Dawood felt justifiably happy as he toured Baghdad's al-Baya'a district delivering voter registration papers. He got no payment for the work, but the prospect of helping his neighbours to choose their political future for the first time was reward enough. That, however, was before a paper dropped through his own letterbox just days later, offering a choice of much starker terms — quit now, or be killed. "It said, 'The sword has become very near to your neck — leave any work that relates to the elections and stay safe,' " said Mr Dawood. "Then it said, 'You are free to make the choice yourself, but we have warned you.' "

Posted by:Dan Darling

#12 If the Sunnis choose to boycott the election after having been offered the opportunity to vote under the same conditions as all other Iraqis,

There's a huge difference between "choosing" to boycott the election, and being intimidated by gunmen to boycott the election.

Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2005-01-02 8:55:30 PM

#11 This trick is like a kid holding his breath. It only works if the grownups are impressed.
I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately, the US wants the world, certainly the despot dominated ME countries, to see how wonderful the concept of democracy is in the first Arab test case in the ME. If a federal government is elected for Iraq when 1 of the 3 parts boycotts the election, I hope the US is secure enough to say "Oh well, hold your breath, we don't care, Sunni brats." Will this happen?

Of course, none of the Confederate states got to vote in the Federal elections of 1864. But Abraham Lincoln is still widely accepted to have won fair and square.
Right you are, but did the UN and the MSM and PC thinking exist during the Civil War, to name a few of the current "negatives" that exist today?

Posted by: joeblow 2005-01-02 5:46:47 PM

#10 joeblow: Whether we like to admit it or not Sunnis represent a significant minority, not a handful of blokes passing through, and if they snub the election the results are not truly representative of the population of Iraq.

Whether we like to admit it or not the Confederate states represent a significant minority, not a handful of blokes passing through, and if they snub the election the results are not truly representative of the population of the United States.

Of course, none of the Confederate states got to vote in the Federal elections of 1864. But Abraham Lincoln is still widely accepted to have won fair and square. Now - if the southern states had been allowed to vote, McClellan would probably have won.

Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-01-02 5:18:48 PM

#9 The commies in El Salvador (FMLN) tried the boycott-the-election road. The election went on as scheduled, the winners were inaugurated, and nobody remembers the boycott.
This trick is like a kid holding his breath. It only works if the grownups are impressed.

Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2005-01-02 4:03:06 PM

#8 If the Sunnis choose to boycott the election after having been offered the opportunity to vote under the same conditions as all other Iraqis, then the vote is indeed representative of the popular will: The will of the Sunnis being not to be involved in choosing the government. Many, many Americans make the same choice each November, and nobody with even a modicum of intelligence claims they were disenfranchised.

One of the freedoms in a democracy is the freedom not to vote. Only in a dictatorship is the count 100% of the vote, with 100% of eligible citizens voting.

Posted by: trailing wife 2005-01-02 2:53:35 PM

#7 So, many Sunnis won't vote. And many Sunni would-be politicians have pulled out. So what?
We all get it, you included Bulldog. If the Sunnis boycott the first elections of the new Iraq democracy, then it's not a true democracy.Whether we like to admit it or not Sunnis represent a significant minority, not a handful of blokes passing through, and if they snub the election the results are not truly representative of the population of Iraq.

The US has made democracy in Iraq as its golden chalice and free elections as the measure of this new democracy. The Sunnis are playing chess and now the US has to figure out the next move to win this political game that's being watched worldwide.

Posted by: joeblow 2005-01-02 1:47:50 PM

#6 Sunnis are toast anyway, 20% of the population on a good day. Even if the Sunni vote, the new Government will be overwhelmingly Shia and Kurd. The Shia will keep the Kurds in the mix because they are talented and because they, like the Shia, have no compunction about killing their former Sunni oppressors. Whether they vote or not, the Sunni Baathists are about to find out that payback is a bitch.

Posted by: RWV 2005-01-02 1:26:51 PM

#5 So, many Sunnis won't vote. And many Sunni would-be politicians have pulled out. So what? They're better off out of government. Maybe in four years or so they'll have twigged that the power system has changed. Right now they're rushing themselves towards total irrelevance. Good riddance.

Posted by: Bulldog 2005-01-02 5:30:28 AM

#4 Look for a major reckoning once the election has taken place.

Posted by: Tony (UK) 2005-01-02 5:25:36 AM

#3 given the current state of world affairs smn, I'd have to say yer god failed....

Posted by: Dcreeper 2005-01-02 5:21:03 AM

#2 I hope they all resign;
this will make it clear to the US, what has to be done! We're trying to conquer a nation leaving all the men intact! Even GOD destroyed the men in who's nations did him injustice!

Posted by: smn 2005-01-02 5:01:30 AM

#1 Well, in the vacuum of Iraqi civil safety, at least they eschew the terrible stain of vigilantiism! They can hold their heads high and... uh, um, no, I guess they can't. Nevermind.

Posted by: .Abu Josie Wales channeling Emily Latella 2005-01-02 12:22:58 AM

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