Iraqi election Poll

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

The names in english might be spelled differently

Please spend a little time researching on the candidates before simply voting. If you have NO clue then dont vote.

For the germans a little source http://www.spiegel.de/flash/0,5532,10129,00.html

the english could also use this one... internet site of a german-iraqi radio station covering only the election. Very confusing ... but contains many many short details

http://www.electionmonitoriraq.com/content.php?contentTypeID=36

For comments on the election please use to the original Iraq thread!

POLL ONLY - DO NOT TRY TO POST COMMENTS

[theavonlady 2]

Pity there wasn't a HAVEN'T A CLUE polling choice.

[quicksand 0]

Quote[/b] ]POLL ONLY - DO NOT TRY TO POST COMMENTS

Sorry,but it's beyond my understanding what's the point of this topic if we can't comment on the ellection process and the candidates.To find out what the 5% of this small community,who are atleast remotely intrested in the Iraqi topic think would be the candidate they know nothing about who wins the ellections in an anonymus poll?

I don't think we need a poll and the Iraqi thread could do just fine since there are only a core handful of active members intrested about this war.Or as an alternative this thread should be open through the ellection process and we could comment on the level of violence,candidates etc. until it's over.

[D34N 0]

Very confusing ... but contains many many short details

How are we supposed to know who the best man for the job is in Iraq just from 'short details'? It would take hours, possibly days to go through all the candidates and decide which one is 'the best'.

Another question would be: How many many write in votes will Saddam Hussein receive?

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Why do you people have to make it so complicated.

1) if you want to comment on it, then post the comment in the Iraqi-Thread! Why? Because otherwise the moderators are going to close this thread. If you are not interested in voting then dont vote and dont criticise.

2.) It cant be that hard to research a bit about the candidates and choose which you assume is best for the country. I assume you are able to judge time-efficiency and effectiveness.. choose an adequate candidate in the short time you have available!

Is that so challenging? When it comes down to an election that is what you have to do, no? Put a cross ... only a cross!

Damn I forgot to tick "poll-only"

If you only wish to post info on a candidate then you are warmly welcome.

[Apollo 0]

Well i know 3 people on the list , al-Schahristani ,Alawi and Tschalabi ,the rest i don't know.

Personaly i wouldn't vote any of them ,some of these guys are religious clerics ,others are ex-opposition politicians who lived in exile for decade's ,like Alawi and Tschalabi ,and do not have much of local support at home.Heck most of the guys on the list have survived mutlipe assasination attempts ,and there might be more on that list if it wasn't for the fact that the assasination attempts are a lot of times succesfull to.

But the automatic problem with these iraqi ellections is that any candidate will be unnaceptable for a specific poppultion group ,either he is a non-cleric and then is unnaceptable for a large portion of the shia poppulation (or other religions) or he is in fact a cleric and then he's unnaceptable for most people that don't share his beliefs.

IMO ,hold a poll today in Iraq asking the people if they want a religious goverment with Sharia implemented and probably the majority will say YES ,the result is that Democracy is probably no really what the Iraqi's want.And then you have the Kurds ,and the Kurds want a Kurd and thats all to it for them.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

Since the mods dont reply to my question I guess it is realy the best idea to "discuss" the election here. But please try to stick to that topic 100% otherwise they gonna close it pretty quickly!  

Me too, I only knew 3 of the candidates before...

Alawi (US-puppet)

Al Hakim (the "real" muslim )

Schahristani, (  man with ideals and good relations with the UN)

[turms 0]

Who are the iraqis going to vote, when the list of the 7000 candidates is not published becouse of the security reason?

Is it democratic if you dont know who you are voting?

Quote[/b] ] The election is for a 275-member National Assembly that will oversee the drafting of a permanent constitution.

[Apollo 0]

Personnaly i think a kurd will win.I think most people outside the kurdish region in Iraq will be to scared to vote because of terrorist attacks ,so maybe only 10 to 20% will show up and even then vote over a very devided list of candidate's.This while in the Kurdish regions security problems are non-existant ,probably every kurd ellegible to vote will vote and probably all kurds will vote for the same guy/party ,a kurdish one ,to maximize their chances.

I wonder what will happen if the Iraqi people ellect some die hard Shia cleric or a kurd as president...

[quicksand 0]

Then this might as well go here as it is about Al-Hakim

Go home Yanks, says PM in waiting

Quote[/b] ]THE Shi’ite Muslim cleric tipped to become prime minister after next Sunday’s election in Iraq has said it will be the duty of the new government to demand the withdrawal of American forces “as soon as possibleâ€.

“No people in the world accepts occupation and nor do we accept the continuation of American troops in Iraq,†said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

“We regard these forces to have committed many mistakes in the handling of various issues, the first and foremost being that of security, which in turn has contributed to the massacres, crimes and calamities that have taken place in Iraq against the Iraqis.â€

In comments certain to raise eyebrows in the United States, al-Hakim spoke of a role for Iran and Syria — both regarded in Washington as enemies in the war on terror — along with Iraq’s other neighbours, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait, in the security of the country.

“These countries have past experiences and good security forces and with good relations we can solve this problem together,†he said.

“Should the security problem continue, it will not end at the border of Iraq but extend to their countries.â€

Al-Hakim, who heads a list of 228 candidates representing the United Iraqi Alliance — a coalition of the main Shi’ite factions — refused to be drawn into specifying a timetable for American withdrawal, saying that the details had to be worked out after the election.

However, speaking slowly and emphatically, he added: “Iraq can rely on itself and its people and it does not want foreign troops in its country.â€

President George W Bush’s administration has said that an Iraqi request for the removal of the 173,000 American and other foreign troops in the country would be honoured but declined to give any indication of timing.

Britain does not want to keep troops in Iraq for “a moment longer than we need toâ€, the Foreign Office said yesterday. “It’s a matter of staying sufficiently long for the Iraqis to be sufficiently robust to achieve security.â€

The powerful alliance headed by al-Hakim was formed on the initiative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most revered spiritual leader. It is expected to win a majority of seats in the 275-member transitional national assembly, from which the prime minister will be chosen.

The election is being boycotted by most Sunni political parties, both secular and religious. Although outnumbered by the Shi’ite majority, the Sunnis dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein but will emerge from the election with their influence sharply reduced.

Bush has heralded the election as the first test of his hopes for the spread of democracy to the Middle East but the administration appears increasingly concerned about the Shi’ite-dominated government that it is now expected to produce.

Further cause for pessimism has emerged with an American intelligence report warning that the elections will be followed by more violence, with an increased likelihood of clashes between Shi’ites and Sunnis that could lead to civil war.

It is all a far cry from Bush’s earlier vision of a secular Iraq that would become a crucial ally in the Middle East.

Personally I have little doubt he will win the ellection as the coallition he is leading is very respected by the Shia community and he won Sistani embracing.Corelated with the lack of any strong Sunni party the odds are clearly in his favour.

Allawi is also on a one way ticket to a humiliating defeat,polls show that his support is a one digit number and after he is ousted from the government he has little choice but to live his remaining years in exile as he has been used to rather then face the countless groups that would give anything to have a shot at his life.

[Apollo 0]

Yes well it depends on how many iraqi's lay asside to them the security issue's and go vote ,but if most vote then a Shia cleric will most probably win ,and if almost noone votes then i would say a kurd would win ,eitherway any of these are unnaceptable for certain groups within Iraqi society ,and thus civil war seems more than probably ,plus neither of these will be easily accepted by foreign country's ,if it's a shia then the USA will be most concerned about that (just think what the fall of the Shah of iran and the emmerging of the religious goverment there has done to America's oil interrests in Iran) ,if it's a Kurd godforbid then half the region will be very upset by that. (not in the least turkey)

And in the odd occasion that it would be a sunni then afcourse the Shia won't be happy.

One must note also that the majority of wealth and millitary power in iraq is in the hands of the Sunni ,afterall Saddam usually only set sunni's as high ranked millitary officers ,same goes with high goverment and economical positions.

In the likely even that a Shia cleric will be ellected (Shia's are about 60% of Iraq's poppulation) ,then that will be because the Shia's are most powerfull in number's ,but not in funds or in weaponry ,that power lies to the Sunni who are probably more than preppared to use them against the Shia wich they don't like and don't want to lose their prominent possitions to.

Another concern would be what such a civil war could mean for the neighbouring country's ,possibly prominent Shia country's like Saudi Arabia and Iran would prefer to support the Shia while regional Sunni or secular country's would rather prefer to support the Sunni.

Let us just hope Iraq doesn't become a second Congo.

[EiZei 0]

I think daily show's iraqi election coverage summed it up the best, there was a pie chart with like 5000 colors all about same size.

[quicksand 0]

Not only that but the ellections will give insurgents even more steam then they had before and close to complete support from the Sunni population.If you watched the events from Iraq alot of the attacks focused on intimidating the Sunnis themselves from joining the Iraqi forces tempted by high salaries or colaborating in any way with the occupying force.

They were succesful.Iraqi security forces are made of former Kurd peshmergas and Shias,Sunnis part of the ellection comission in various cities,they are not expected to show up and cast their ballot in the ellection heck they don't even have a party to represent them.And a Shia-Kurd governmen will be sure to help the insurgents achieve a veritable "Sunni Resistance" as they aimed from the begining.

Quote[/b] ],possibly prominent Shia country's like Saudi Arabia and Iran would prefer to support the Shia while regional Sunni or secular country's would rather prefer to support the Sunni.

Actually Saudi Arabia is 85% Sunni as most of the Arab countries and the only two countries where the Shias are in majority is Iraq and Iran.

[Apollo 0]

Quote[/b] ]Actually Saudi Arabia is 85% Sunni as most of the Arab countries and the only two countries where the Shias are in majority is Iraq and Iran.

Huh? i thought the majority of Saudi Arabia was Wahabist (an even extremer form of Shia religion ,with product's like Osama bin laden) and that this wahabist dogma's served as law in Suadi Arabia to.

Even then ,Iran is deffinatly hte more poppulation rich an millitary powerfull country in that region ,asside from Turkey maybe.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

hmmm ... where do I put my cross?

http://www.electionmonitoriraq.com/intern/getBin.php?id=29

can I put 3 .. maybe 5 .. no actually 10 would be better, or lets say I put 2 gold crosses 3 silver ones and 5 bronz!

[bn880 5]

Where is Saddam? By far the best candidate.

[EiZei 0]

Where is Saddam? By far the best candidate.

He is.. uhh.. rather tied up at the moment.

[bn880 5]

I know, that doesn't stop it.

IMO his name should definately be on there, to get a real democracy going. This is chicken shit voting. It's like a setup for a majority to rule, except the majority never did rule in Iraq... so umm, interesting indeed.

(Saddam would not have a chance anyway, but I'm saying, let us see democracy)

[Apollo 0]

Lol this list of party's is full of funny names.

My favourite's:

-Iraqi communist party (The middle east is red)

-Assyrian patriotic party (Yeah Assyrian nationalism is on the rise)

-Movement of Hizbullah in iraq (yep they should put more security on the Syrian border)

-Iraqi Elites gathering (freemasons rule the world)

-National front for the unity of Iraq (good luck)

-Twentieth revolution Grandchildren Gathering (self-explainatory really)

-Royal Constitutionality Al Shareef Ali bin Al hussein (King Hussein!)

-The First Democratic National party (but not the last in the list)

-Husseini Inspiration Forum (Banning all those who spammed hussein's avatar across the country)

-Iraqi National rescue party (can be seen running on the beaches in red Speedo's)

-Iraqi's (quite inspiring party name)

-List of independants (like the list wasn't long enough yet)

-Al Shaabanya uprising Coalition (AK's for everybody!)

-Iraqi council for humanitarian Non-govermental organizations (trying to be ellected for goverment)

-New Iraq revival movement (euh? Kunundrum?)

Strange though ,noone thought about setting up a Babylonian patriotic party.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

lol ... I had a good laugh

[Colossus 2]

First time for them, they are really not good at making names for there parties.

Quote[/b] ]Iraqi council for humanitarian Non-govermental organizations

ICHNGO, even the short version of the name is too long.

BTW. This was a badly planed election.

I mean, almost everyone in Iraq don't know a thing about the candidates.

[Baphomet 0]

I know nothing about the candidates. Does this electionmonitor Iraq site have any info on them? I'll check it in a bit when I have the time.

[Blink Dog 0]

Why isn't George Bush on the list?

[Apollo 0]

Quote[/b] ]Why isn't George Bush on the list?

Because he's the boss already anyway.

Ellect my puppet ,ellect!

[quicksand 0]

Poll:76% Sunnis won't vote

Quote[/b] ]WASHINGTON (AFP) - Three out of four Sunni Arabs will not vote in Iraq (news - web sites)'s weekend elections, while a majority of Sunnis and Shiites want US troops to leave the country immediately or as soon as an elected government is in place, according to a new poll.

About 76 percent of Sunnis say they "definitely will not vote" in Sunday's elections, according to the poll conducted by US-based Zogby International for Abu Dhabi television. Only nine percent of Sunnis say they will cast ballots.

Conversely, 80 percent of Shiites, Iraq's majority group, and 57 percent of Kurds say they will "likely" or "definitely" vote.

Zogby polled 805 Iraqi adults from January 19-23 throughout Iraq, including the cities of Baghdad, Hilla, Karbala and Kirkuk, as well as the provinces of Diala and Anbar. The survey has a 3.6 plus or minus percentage-point margin of error.

The poll showed that 82 percent of Sunnis and 69 percent of Shiites want US forces to withdraw "either immediately or after an elected government is in place."

Of Iraq's religious and ethnic groups, only Kurds believe the United States will "help" Iraq over the next five years, while 49 percent of Shiites and 64 percent of Sunnis say the United States will "hurt" their country, according to the poll.

"There are deep divisions that exist -- divisions that are so deep and pronounced that this election, instead of bringing people together, may very well tear them apart," said James Zogby, a Zogby International analyst and host of Abu Dhabi television's "Viewpoint."

While 84 percent of Shiites and 64 percent of Kurds want the elections to be held as scheduled, 62 percent of Sunnis want the vote to be delayed, the poll found.

James Zogby said 53 percent of Sunnis believe that "ongoing attacks in Iraq are a legitimate form of resistance."

"With this group already boycotting the election, this makes for a very violent combination," he said.

The poll found that 59 percent of Iraqis want a system in which citizens are allowed to practice their own religions, while 34 percent would prefer an Islamic government.

This only goes to strenghten my beliefs.I am now worried that the insurgents after succesfully convincing the Sunnis not to vote and a majority supports their attacks,they can now concentrate their attacks in the relatively calm Shia dominated South where there are already reports of hundreads of Iraqi NG unfiroms missing which could help them move freely through the checkpoints.

It's already clear that the ellections will devise the Iraqis further in a climate where a community numbering in millions is boycotting,the questions is if it will end in total bloodshed.