Opposition grows to Iraqi election plan – report

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi legislators face a Thursday deadline to approve an election law for January’s parliamentary polls, while opposition grows against plans for a so-called closed-list ballot, the Wall Street Journal said in a report on Tuesday. The daily said that the election, slated for Jan. 16, is being closely watched by the U.S. as a barometer of the country’s stability amid a drawdown of American forces. Overall security has improved, but high-profile attacks continue. Underscoring how fragile security is, three explosions rocked Ramadi, in western Anbar province, on Sunday, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens of others, according to a Ministry of Interior official. Despite the recent attacks, U.S. officials have said a smooth election in January could trigger an accelerated withdrawal. Key to getting the election right is passing an election law. Lawmakers have been wrangling for weeks on passing legislation to establish rules about how the race will be run and what the ballot will look like. Issues over how voting will be held in the contested northern oil city of Kirkuk — claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen — have held up the legislation. A new, potential hang-up is growing opposition — including from the country’s most revered religious figure — to plans to run the election based on closed lists. Essentially, that means the names of parties, coalitions and electoral lists will appear on the ballot, but not the names of the candidates themselves. After the elections, victorious parties will nominate individual politicians to occupy the seats they win. The system strengthens the hand of well-organized political groups at the expense of individual politicians. Critics say the system helped sow sectarian tensions that nearly plunged the country into civil war following the last parliamentary vote, which adopted a closed-list system. Under intense international pressure to hold its 2005 vote on time, Iraq‘s government at the time opted for the closed system because of its simplicity. It also kept individual candidates from becoming targets of violence. Last January, Iraq allowed for an open-list race during provincial elections across the country. But parliamentarians last week appeared to be leaning toward keeping the closed format for the parliamentary vote next year. In a private meeting for political-bloc leaders in parliament on Oct. 4, party bosses agreed to adopt a closed-list provision in the current elections-law draft, according to people familiar with the matter. That has triggered a backlash. On Saturday, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Baghdad, Kirkuk and the oil-rich city of Basra in southern Iraq against the possibility a closed list. Some demonstrators in Baghdad held signs that said “Closed Lists Strengthen Sectarianism and Ethnic Divides.” “An open list is better for us because we want to choose whom we want,” said Najim Mahmood, a Baghdad resident and civil servant. “A closed list system means everything stays the same.” On Tuesday, Shiite religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani weighed in, publicly advocating an open list. Sheikh Abdul al-Karbalai, a Sistani representative, also warned during Friday prayers last week that a closed list meant voter turnout would be low and “the elections would fail.” The condemnation means parliament, made up largely of Shiite lawmakers, would have to openly defy Mr. Sistani to move forward with the closed-list system. Some lawmakers now say there could be a way to have a mix of both systems. Such a hybrid might have some candidate names on the ballot but have victorious parties choose the rest of the seats. MH (R)/AmR 1