Iraq's elections will be legitimate if roughly half the Sunni Arab minority votes despite threats of violence, a leading politician in the Shi'ite alliance expected to dominate the polls said on Saturday. "I think 40 to 50 percent of Sunnis will vote. That would be very good, with all the threats, with all the measures taken by the insurgents and the terrorism," said Adel Abdul Mahdi, when asked how many Sunnis needed to vote to validate the polls. Fear of widespread violence in Sunni areas has raised concerns that many Sunnis, once privileged under Saddam Hussein, will not vote, skewing the results in favor of the Shi'ite majority long oppressed by the toppled Iraqi president.
| Life's tough that way, isn't it? |
Finance Minister Abdul Mahdi is a senior official in the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, part of a Shi'ite list of candidates in the United Iraqi Alliance expected to win the most seats in parliament after the Jan. 30 poll. Iraq's main Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, has withdrawn from the polls, saying they should be delayed, while the 60 percent Shi'ite majority is poised to gain power and believes voting should go ahead despite fears of bloodshed. "A lot of (security) measures have been taken. We have to keep the suicide bombers from getting to huge gatherings and with the media this might reflect a very negative signal to other centers of elections," said Abdel Mehdi, a contender to lead Iraq after the election. "I think there will be some (guerrilla) operations but I think elections will go smoothly in most parts of the country. "We are not permitting cars to reach those (voting) centers. Movement will be limited between provinces. There will be limited movement in the cities," he said.
| I don't think I'd let guys wearing overcoats get too close to them, either... |
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