- BAGHDAD (IPS) - With
elections
just four days away, many Iraqis are still uncertain how they will vote,
or even where the polling stations are.*
-
- The only certainty appears to be violence. Another
political
assassination took place when judge Qais Hashim al-Shammari was killed
with his brother-in-law as he was leaving his house in eastern Baghdad
Tuesday.
-
- At least six U.S. soldiers have been killed in Baghdad
this week. One soldier died when a roadside bomb struck his patrol Monday.
Five soldiers died in what the military described as a "vehicle
accident".
-
- A car bomb exploded the same day near the party
headquarters
of interim prime minister Iyad Allawi. At least five people, four of them
police officers, died in the blast.
-
- In Baquba, north of Baghdad, party political offices
were attacked Tuesday. At least one policeman was killed.
-
- Amidst such incidents people are guessing games around
polling stations and candidates. It appears now that polling stations will
be located in school buildings. The high commission for elections of Iraq
has still not announced the location of polling stations due to security
fears, but many school buildings around Baghdad are being cordoned off
with sand barriers, concrete blocks and razor wire.
-
- "I feel unsafe in my own home now, even more than
before," said Hashim al-Obeidy, a retired engineer. A school building
near his house is being prepared as a polling station. "I watched
the American soldiers building these barriers. And now I am afraid mortars
will hit my home if the school is attacked."
-
- Standing outside his house in central Baghdad, he pointed
to a row of large sand barriers outside an old yellow school building with
damaged walls and cracked paint. "They already severely damaged our
school system, they haven't rebuilt anything, and now they will create
more destruction in the schools," he said.
-
- "I would be crazy to vote, it's so dangerous
now,"
said 45-year-old guard Salman at another barricaded school building being
prepared as a polling station. Most residents do not know yet which school
they could go to vote in.
-
- Many Iraqis continue to express frustration over what
they see as illegitimate elections.
-
- Prof. Shawket Daoud, a computer science specialist who
now works for the government, said uncertainty over polling booths and
the fear of violence was not the only problem. "Why vote when we don't
even know who is running yet?"
-
- More than 7,000 candidates on the electoral lists have
opted to remain anonymous prior to polling day. At least eight political
leaders thought to be candidates have been killed. Many others receive
death threats.
-
- But some Iraqis still say they will vote. "I'll
vote because I can't afford to have my food ration cut," said Amin
Hajar, 52, who owns a small auto garage in Baghdad. "There is a rumour
that if we don't vote our ration will be stopped. And if that happened,
I and my family would starve to death."
-
- He said that when he picked up his monthly food ration
recently, he was forced to sign a form saying he had picked up his voter
registration. He believes that the government may use this to track whether
he votes or not.
-
- This rumor has circulated broadly around Baghdad even
though there appears to be no truth in it.
-
- Abu Sabah, a grocery stall owner near the Karrada
district
of Baghdad says he is simply confused about the election. The elections
feel rushed and a list of at least 83 coalitions of political parties with
mostly anonymous candidates makes no sense, he says.
-
- "Who says we should have elections for people we
don't even know during occupation, martial law and in a war zone,"
he said. "And why vote when we're expected to vote for an entire list
of candidates when we only know, if we're lucky, one or two of their
names?"
-
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http://dahrjamailiraq.com
-
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-
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- ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
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