By Rachel Oppenheimer
Surprisingly, Iraq's regional elections proved mostly free and fair, popular, and generally absent of violence. With traffic banned and border crossings and airports closed, heavily protected Iraqis casted their provincial votes last Saturday. “The purple fingers have returned to build Iraq,” said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in reference to the post-vote indelible ink stains on index fingers. In 2005, some Iraqis found their purple fingers amputated by election boycotters.
This year's results demonstrated that parties promising security and national unity have come out ahead of the sectarian groups originally bent on dominating the country. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's non-sectarian State of Law coalition succeeded in provincial polls, strengthening the central state and winning support in time for the national elections later in the year. “This shows that the Iraqi voter wants to hear nationalist speeches as well as religious speeches,” said Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman. Iraqis' primary concerns lie in security rather than a devotion to religious politics, al-Dabbagh argued.
Election results in favor of Al-Maliki surprise many, especially in light of his close ties with former President George W. Bush throughout much of the occupation. Perhaps after all of the Bush years atrocities, international Iraq war scorn, and fruitless searches for weapons of mass destruction, Iraq demonstrates hope of stability and democracy.
Victory, though, is a subjective term. A military officer in Baghdad's Sadr City district shot and injured two people as voters were chanting slogans at a polling station. Tribal sheikhs in Anbar province accused incumbent Sunni politicians of rigging the polls. The Economist reports almost cheerily about the death of eight candidates this election compared to the 200 back in 2005. Even alongside some evidence of progress, the continued violence and lower than expected turnout makes stability perhaps too powerful a word to stand by. The war's costs arguably still outweigh the benefits, with the United States' abysmal world standing and the daily increasing number of casualties. Marina Ottaway, director of Middle Eastern Affairs for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that “after all these years and the money that we've spent, I'm not sure we're coming out in a stronger strategic position.”
Surprisingly, Iraq's regional elections proved mostly free and fair, popular, and generally absent of violence. With traffic banned and border crossings and airports closed, heavily protected Iraqis casted their provincial votes last Saturday. “The purple fingers have returned to build Iraq,” said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in reference to the post-vote indelible ink stains on index fingers. In 2005, some Iraqis found their purple fingers amputated by election boycotters.
This year's results demonstrated that parties promising security and national unity have come out ahead of the sectarian groups originally bent on dominating the country. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's non-sectarian State of Law coalition succeeded in provincial polls, strengthening the central state and winning support in time for the national elections later in the year. “This shows that the Iraqi voter wants to hear nationalist speeches as well as religious speeches,” said Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman. Iraqis' primary concerns lie in security rather than a devotion to religious politics, al-Dabbagh argued.
Election results in favor of Al-Maliki surprise many, especially in light of his close ties with former President George W. Bush throughout much of the occupation. Perhaps after all of the Bush years atrocities, international Iraq war scorn, and fruitless searches for weapons of mass destruction, Iraq demonstrates hope of stability and democracy.
Victory, though, is a subjective term. A military officer in Baghdad's Sadr City district shot and injured two people as voters were chanting slogans at a polling station. Tribal sheikhs in Anbar province accused incumbent Sunni politicians of rigging the polls. The Economist reports almost cheerily about the death of eight candidates this election compared to the 200 back in 2005. Even alongside some evidence of progress, the continued violence and lower than expected turnout makes stability perhaps too powerful a word to stand by. The war's costs arguably still outweigh the benefits, with the United States' abysmal world standing and the daily increasing number of casualties. Marina Ottaway, director of Middle Eastern Affairs for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said that “after all these years and the money that we've spent, I'm not sure we're coming out in a stronger strategic position.”
Michael here- I enjoyed your critique of the elections, you broached topics that I found interesting such as Al-Maliki's ties with Bush and security-oriented voting. You made me want to hear more about the poll rigging and candidate death. I was surprised by the US twist at the end, and want to talk with you about why you chose to end on a domestic note. Good job!
ReplyDeleteIoana here – I found your article very interesting and informative, but I agree with Michael that the last paragraph is a bit confusing. Are you questioning the fact that Iraq is becoming more stable, or the role of the United States in promoting this stability? Instead of balancing costs and benefits, Obama was very enthusiastic about the way the elections were carried out and considered them “good news” for his plan to retreat American troops from Iraq. Also, I think the provincial elections showed clear signs that Iraqis are starting to put their religious and ethnical differences behind in order to choose the most competent governor.
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