Jordan Times
Monday, December 12, 2005
Kingdom's Iraqi
community divided over upcoming elections
Unofficial figures put the number of Iraqis currently residing in
Jordan at around 600,000, half of which are eligible voters
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN — Roommates Kathem Jabar, 25, and Mohammad Lami, 28, have been playing
backgammon on Tuesday nights in a small café in downtown Amman for more than
five years. But this Tuesday, when out-of-country voting for Iraqi elections
opens, the two will go their separate ways.
On Dec. 13 Jabar will head to a nearby polling station to elect a candidate of
his choice in the Iraqi parliamentary elections.
The young businessman believes it is a duty for every Iraqi to cast a ballot. He
said the burning desire for a unified nation has led him to support the secular
alliance of former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
“Allawi is the best option available. The Shiite alliance has disappointed us
during the past months. Their rule was marred by insecurity and economic
slowdown.”
Lami, on the other hand, is determined to sit out the vote.
Instead, he said, he will use the time “to do something useful” by visiting
relatives.
Lami becomes angry when speaking about the calamity his country is reeling
under, saying he is adamant about boycotting the elections.
For him the whole process is no more than “a drama manipulated by the Americans
and their allies.”
“Tens of women and children are killed everyday in Baghdad's streets ...
thousands are homeless. At the same time, Iraqi politicians are entering the
elections to scavenge what the Americans left behind,” he said.
“Any Iraqi who has a speck of dignity should not vote because that would allow
American spies to rob the country,” added Lami.
However, Jabar shrugged off his close friends' comments, saying being passive is
the wrong thing to do.
“We must show the world our interest in Iraq's future. We must make our voices
heard,” he said.
In the run up to elections Iraqi authorities have launched a huge media campaign
at a cost of $3 million to attract a larger voter turnout than previous
elections.
Part of this process has involved encouraging voter participation among Iraqi
expatriate communities in the region and abroad.
Unofficial figures put the number of Iraqis currently residing in Jordan at
around 600,000, half of which are eligible voters.
Local newspapers have carried daily election advertisements, while banners
spread across the capital have encouraged voter participation.
In the Rabia district, currently nicknamed “little Iraq,” walls, shop fronts and
traffic lights have been plastered with posters of candidates.
To cater for expatriate voters, Jordan will open 10 polling stations in Amman,
Zarqa and Irbid from Dec. 13-15.
Officials in charge of organising the elections are confident that voter turnout
will increase on the previous elections for the Transitional National Assembly
on Jan. 30, when less than 5 per cent of Iraqis living in Jordan bothered to
cast a vote.
Hamdiah Husseini, director of the out-of-country voting in the Independent
Electoral Commission of Iraq believes these elections will be much more
successful.
“More political parties are participating to represent a larger segment of the
society,” she told The Jordan Times.
“We learned from our previous experience. Last time voters had difficulty
reaching polling stations. This year we have made sure to reach voters wherever
they are.”
Polls inside Iraq open on Dec. 15 to elect a Council of Representatives for a
four-year term, the first permanent government since the collapse of Saddam
Hussein's regime following the US led invasion of March 2003.
A total of 307 political entities and 19 coalitions have registered to contest
for the 275 seats in the council, according to the commission.
The new elected government will require a two-thirds vote from parliament.
Ali Hussein, 25, is excited about the prospect of voting. Sipping strong tea
from a saucer, a well-known Iraqi custom, he said: “Iraqis never voted freely.
The concept of democracy is new to us. We are used to military dictatorship or
monarchy. It is a great experience to be able to take part in Iraq political
life.”
He urged his fellow Iraqis not to hide their heads in the sand and go out and
vote for a unified country.
“We should be voting for a unified Iraq. Vote for a true national army and not
an army consisting of party and tribal militias,” he said.
But Samer Qubeidi, 33, a former bodybuilding champion, yet again reveals the
divisions among Iraqis over their country's new experiment with democracy.
“No one will be voting out of political awareness in the elections. The ones who
will vote have vested interest, either a member of their clan is taking part in
the elections or because he/she is Sunni or Shiite,” he said.
Qubeidi said he and his family in Iraq and Jordan have agreed to boycott the
vote.
“The election is being held under US occupation, which automatically makes the
results suspect in the eyes of many, if not most, Iraqis, Qubeidi said.