MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-08-20 |
| FROM | From: "Steve Milo"
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Message to Texas .... and this is how it happens
|
To a degree the sunni clerics were right, if there is no speration of church and state the constitution and in larger scheme of things the government may very well be a farce.
Steve M
> Next Time, Sunnis Intend to Be Heard
> * Many regret boycotting the parliamentary election in Iraq. They say
> they won’t 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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