MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-08-20 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Message to Texas .... and this is how it happens
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Next Time, Sunnis Intend to Be Heard
* Many regret boycotting the parliamentary election in Iraq. They say
they wonÿt repeat the mistake when it comes to a new constitution.
By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Suhail Najim spent Iraq's last Election Day holed up at
home, watching television and joining other Sunni Muslims who boycotted
the polls to protest the presence of U.S. troops in his country.
Today the former tourism official is so eager to vote, he has visited
three registration sites to ensure his name is on the rolls for the
planned October referendum on a new constitution.
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"It's such a huss and fuss," said an exasperated Najim, 56, after being
sent from one polling center in his predominantly Sunni neighborhood in
Baghdad, the capital, to another one nearby. "But I'll go. I'll do it,"
he vowed, adding that leaders at his mosque had urged him to sign up.
"This time I want to be sure to vote."
In stark contrast to the Jan. 30 parliamentary election, when Sunni Arab
turnout was as low as 2 percent in some areas, Iraq's once-ruling ethnic
minority is mobilizing for a much stronger showing this time around.
The January boycott, now viewed as a political blunder, left Sunni Arabs
underrepresented in the National Assembly and with a limited role in the
committee charged with crafting the new constitution. Instead, both
bodies have been dominated by Shiites and Kurds.
Determined to regain some of their clout, leading Sunni Muslim clerics
who once called elections under occupation a "farce" and condemned
voting as an act against Islam, are now using the same mosque pulpits to
urge followers to register.
On Friday, Sheik Mohammad Salih, cleric at Baghdad's Bilal al-Habishi
mosque and once a staunch critic of elections, called upon "every honest
and honorable Iraqi citizen to go to these centers and register," and
then to "participate in the elections and referendum with enthusiasm."
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's leading Sunni Arab political
party, has dropped its previous boycott and is pushing an aggressive
get-out-the-vote campaign, blanketing its newspaper and broadcast
outlets with information about registration, lobbying tribal leaders and
passing out registration pamphlets door-to-door.
Party officials are even pressing for permission to set up a
registration booth inside Abu Ghraib prison, where they are betting that
the votes of thousands of detainees -- mostly young, Sunni Arab men --
will swing in their favor.
"We are making a great effort to push people to register," said Alaa
Makki, a senior party official.
But the new push among some Sunnis to participate in the elections is
being met with violent resistance.
In Mosul on Friday, eight carloads of gunmen kidnapped three Iraqi
Islamic Party members as they were hanging voter-registration posters.
After driving to the public square, the gunmen cursed the party
officials as "infidels" and "defectors of Islam" before shooting all
three to death in front of horrified bystanders, witnesses said.
A day earlier in Ramadi, the governor of Al Anbar province and other
Sunni leaders came under fire by unidentified attackers as they entered
a mosque for a meeting about the upcoming election. Four were injured.
In Samarra recently, Sunni neighborhoods have been receiving dueling
fliers from groups claiming to represent insurgents, some threatening to
attack anyone registering to vote and others condemning the election but
vowing not to harm civilians who participate.
The Muslim Scholars Association, a conservative group of clerics,
refuses to endorse a vote as long as U.S. troops remain in Iraq.
"Our stand (on the illegitimacy of elections) has not changed," said
Sheik Husham Barony, spokesman for the group's Mosul chapter. "But this
time we are leaving it up to the people to decide. We will not interfere
with the decision to participate or not."
Iraqi Islamic Party officials said they have been attempting to
negotiate with Sunni-based insurgent groups, urging them to halt
election-related attacks and trying to convince them that a strong Sunni
turnout is vital.
"We are trying to get them to stop the attacks, at least during the
registration period, and show them that (voter registration) could even
be helpful for the opposition," Makki said.
At stake is Iraq's first democratic constitution in about 50 years.
Political leaders have been debating the contents of the historic
document, which is supposed to be finalized Monday and submitted to
Iraqi voters for approval on Oct. 15.
Although the draft is not yet complete, Sunni leaders say they will
refuse to accept certain proposed elements, such as semi-autonomy for
the Shiite-dominated south or special recognition of Shiite religious
leaders.
To defeat the constitution, Sunnis must persuade two-thirds of voters in
at least three of Iraq's 18 provinces to mark their ballots "no." If
Sunnis stay home, the constitution probably would pass because the
document is expected to have strong support among majority Shiites as
well as Kurds.
Election officials say they are encouraged by the growing participation
by Sunnis and doing what they can to support it.
Among the four provinces that have received the highest number of
registration forms, two have large Sunni Arab populations: Salahuddin,
home of Saddam Hussein's birthplace of Tikrit, and Diayla, which
includes the insurgent hotspots of Baqubah and Samarah. The other two
areas with high participation are the northern province of Al Tamim,
which has a mix of Kurdish, Turkman and Arab residents and includes the
city of Kirkuk, and the predominantly Shiite southern province of
Maysan.
Security remains a hurdle in bringing Sunni Arabs to the polls,
particularly in Al Anbar province. Violence and the U.S. military
presence in Fallujah prevented more than half of the city's registration
centers from opening until this weekend, according to election
commission spokesman Fareed Ayar. As a result, fewer than 150 people had
filled out registration forms as of Wednesday. But Ayar said he expected
a surge in the second half of the month.
To address security concerns, tribal leaders in Al Anbar agreed to
provide 20 security guards at each registration center, and U.S.
military commanders promised to steer clear of polling sites to avoid
alienating potential voters, election officials said.
Voter registration is scheduled to end Aug. 31, but Sunni leaders have
requested an extension for areas that got a late start.
Despite the threats of violence, many Sunni Arabs vow to cast their
votes Oct. 15 and say they regret their decision to boycott the last
election.
"I didn't realize the consequences," said Litfi Saad, 44, a contractor
in Mosul, interviewed at a polling center. "Even if it's dangerous, it's
worth the sacrifice (to vote)."
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