Elections offer opportunity for change – Basra intellectuals

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Winds of change are emerging with the upcoming provincial election as believed by many of Basra intellectuals with an optimistic tone coloring their words. Poet Kareem Chekhior told IraqiNews.com news agency, “I believe the next elections would bring about change.” “For sure we are optimistic; perhaps the elections would offer new names that serve this big city,” he added. Author Abdilghafar al-Itwi said, “The elections would change the map of political alliances and make parties understand that there is another round”. “This electoral round is important, because it would affect the path of democracy,” he said. “There would be monitoring over the new members of the provincial council,” he added. “The new members should try to avoid the mistakes of the last bad council,” he noted. “Ordinary Basrans felt no change during the past council regarding services and construction,” he pointed out. “From now on, being member in the provincial council will not be an easy issue to be achieved, as it would rely on providing services to people,” he asserted. “Parties would fail, and new faces would succeed to change perceptions of parties that were controlling Basra provincial council,” he speculated. But artist Saddam al-Jumaili seemed a little pessimistic. “Most of the nominees are not qualified to build the state’s institutions,” he said. “They always put make up to attract simple people, but without any real change,” he added. “We need to build the state’s institutions to produce a policy that stands on strong foundations,” he added. For his part, poet Kadhum al-Hajaj was neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but hopeful “The forthcoming elections require hope,” he said. “We hope the elections would pave the ground for the bigger event after that, the parliamentary elections, and voters would have the required level of awareness in this regard,” he noted. “I also hope that competition would be fair,” he added. “I am very optimistic that people are qualified to vote for their interest and for the interest of others,” he noted. “Qualified people in Iraq have been excluded and they have the right to take the lead,” he asserted. Eighty-one political blocs and entities will be competing by the end of this month to get the votes of more than 1.435 million voters, to occupy the 35 seats of Basra provincial council. The oil-rich port city of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. MH (S)/AmR 3