Anbar citizens wish for change after elections

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: Candidates and voters in al-Anbar converged on the wish for the best changes after the elections and that promises made by the candidates in the country’s forthcoming legislative elections are achieved on the ground. “I ran for the lections because I believe there has to be some nationalists inside the Iraqi parliament. However, I, with all due appreciation, have certain reservations over many members of parliament,” Sheikh Saadoun al-Ayfan, a member of the local council in the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar and a candidate on the list of Iraq Unity bloc, told IraqiNews.com news agency. He said that there has to be a change for the better so as to serve the interests of the people of Iraq, who are in bad need at this stage to be thoroughly represented. The coming parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held on March 6, 2010 all over Iraq with candidates representing all political blocs and powers vying over 325 seats. Saadoun Obeid al-Shaalan, a lawyer and deputy chairman of the provincial council in Anbar, told IraqiNews.com that each official has to do his/her best to serve the citizens. Muzher Hassan, a provincial council member, said he did not run for the elections because he thinks he can better serve the people of Anbar from his current post at the local council for the next four years. Ibtissam Mohammed Darb, a woman member in the local council, said women need to be represented at this stage in all of the state institutions, hoping some laws enacted at the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to increase the number of women participating in the next parliamentary elections. Saba Abbas, 27, a local resident of Anbar, said women’s rights in the province are wronged so far and did not have a genuine opportunity to prove their abilities. AmR (S) 2