BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Iraqi government on Thursday ordered that campaign materials in upcoming provincial elections can only feature pictures of candidates, in an apparent attempt to keep followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr from using his image to court voters.The decision would also affect other Shiite parties that often use pictures of popular clerics in political campaigns. The government this week also banned candidates from campaigning in mosques or other places of worship, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
Shiite politicians flooded the country with posters of the country's main Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and others during elections in 2005, capitalizing on their prestige to win power.
That led to a backlash among other religious groups and more secular-minded Shiites alarmed over clerical influence in Iraqi society.
Pictures of al-Sadr, who comes from one of Iraq's most esteemed Shiite families, line the streets of places like Baghdad's Sadr City. The powerful cleric has built a large following among disgruntled Shiites in Baghdad and southern Iraq who haven't benefited from the rise of a Shiite-led government in the country.
The upcoming elections will choose governing councils in Iraq's 18 provinces and are seen as a key step in repairing the country's sectarian rifts. The councils have gained power since the first round of elections from specific provisions in the constitution, which wasn't yet ratified by January 2005.
Al-Sadr's followers hope to use the elections to loosen the grip on power that their Shiite rivals have enjoyed since the 2005 elections, which the Sadrists boycotted.
The group does not plan to run a separate list of Sadrist candidates, but will instead have them join other tickets and represent the movement on an individual basis.
They could benefit from the Iraqi government's decision, also made Tuesday, to run provincial elections according to an open-list system, allowing voters to choose individual candidates rather than simply picking a party.
Many voters criticized the government's decision to run the first provincial elections with a closed-list system, possibly pushing them to make the change.
The Sadrists now believe the 2005 boycott was a major political blunder, enabling Shiite parties that have cooperated with the Americans to wield power in the oil-rich Shiite heartland.
For months, the Sadrists have been complaining that their Shiite political rivals in the government have been targeting their movement ahead of upcoming elections, arresting many of their followers under the pretext of security crackdowns.
The vote is scheduled to be held by October, but there is considerable uncertainty whether it will happen on time because parliament has not approved a new law providing for the elections.
Most Sunnis also boycotted the 2005 balloting, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power, even in areas with a substantial Sunni population.
The Sunnis are fully participating in the new round of elections and could benefit from an Iraqi government's decision to allow internally displaced Iraqis to vote. More than 2 million Iraqis have been displaced inside the country by violence, most of them Sunnis.
Meanwhile, al-Dabbagh also announced Tuesday that Jordan's King Abdullah II plans to visit Iraq soon. It would be the first trip by an Arab head of state to Iraq since Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion.
The announcement is a boost to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been seeking more support from his Arab neighbors.
Sunni Arab countries have been wary of Iraq's Shiite-dominated government and its ties with regional power Iran. Arab leaders have avoided the country and embassies have been closed or staffed with lower level officials because of security concerns.
The Jordanian government, which recently named an ambassador to Iraq, declined to comment.
Al-Dabbagh said Abdullah will hold talks with al-Maliki next week, but Iraq's ambassador to Jordan, Saad al-Hayyani, said a date has not been set.
"The Iraqi government and people welcome this visit, and we believe that such a visit would stimulate other Arab senior officials to visit Iraq to enhance bilateral relations," al-Dabbagh said.
Al-Dabbagh also said Thursday that al-Maliki would visit several European and Mideast countries, including Italy, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, this month. He will visit the Emirates on Sunday, and the European trip will occur later in the month.
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