As elections approach

Next Sunday March 7th sees national elections in Iraq, but news reports indicate they are unlikely to generate much enthusiasm nor be free or fair. Michael Hastings reports that only 22 percent in Baghdad say they will vote -http://trueslant.com/michaelhastings/2010/02/23/poll-majority-of-iraqis-think-security-has-gotten-worse-only-22-percent-in-baghdad-say-they-will-vote-no-love-for-iran/

Juan Cole is concerned abut widespread fraud(February 28^th): "Iraqis go to the voting booth on Sunday, March 7, to elect the second full-term parliament since the fall of the one-party Baath regime in 2003. Many Iraqis are worried about ballot and other irregularities in their polls.

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Sadr Movement is complaining bitterly about a rash of arrests by the government of Sadrist activists. The hard line Shiite movement asserted that these arrests were aimed at influencing the course of the election.

Al-Hayat writes in Arabic that the National Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of Shiite religious parties, has alleged that there are 800,000 imaginary voters' names on the election rolls. Member of parliament for the National Iraqi Alliance, Qasim Da'ud, told al-Hayat that his coalition has already detected numerous instances of attempted fraud in the upcoming election."

http://www.juancole.com/

The Observer reports of boycotts

Fears of Iraq poll boycott after Sunni party pulls out

The Observer reports (February 21^st): One of Iraq's two most prominent Sunni politicians has withdrawn his party from next month's general election and called on Sunni voters to boycott the polls – a move that has raised fears of a repeat of the country's disastrous 2005 ballot.

The call for a boycott was made by Saleh al-Mutlaq, an MP who leads the National Dialogue Front, a leading Sunni party. It is part of a cross-sectarian Iraqiya electoral alliance, formed to contest the 7 March ballot.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/21/fears-iraq-poll-boycott-sunni

and The National tells us of votes for sale:

Poor selling their votes for cash

The National reports (February 21^st): he March 7 election may be a critical event in the contest to decide Iraq’s future, but for some of the nation’s poor, the right to vote does not mean having a say in who leads the country; it means having something to sell to make desperately needed cash.

“Elections are a beautiful opportunity to get some money,” Ahmad Salam said. “There are lots of people willing to sell their votes, and lots of people who want to buy them.”

A mechanic by trade working in the impoverished Sadr City slum of north-eastern Baghdad, Mr Salam has taken on the role of an election agent with a difference. He collects votes and then offers them en masse to whichever party is prepared to make the highest bid, taking a commission for his efforts.

“I have 100 people who have given me their vote to sell,” he said outside the small garage where he is employed as a casual worker, earning a few dollars a day. “None of them cares who wins, none of them thinks it makes any difference, so they give me their vote, and I sell it.”

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100221/FOREIGN/702209896/1002%20al.ae