Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Iraq's "free" elections
U.S.-appointed prime minister Iyad Allawi acknowledged last week that full security will be impossible. This despite the rather draconian measures his interim government will have in place.
The government has announced plans to close borders Jan. 29-31. It will cut mobile and satellite phone services, ban travel between Iraq's 18 provinces, lengthen curfew hours and restrict use of vehicles.
Security at polling stations will be heavy. The government plans to set up three security rings around each of the 9,000 polling stations.
But the government is preparing for a bloody day despite such measures. The health ministry has announced it will provide more hospital beds, medical supplies and staff for the day. The U.S. military will run extra patrols to respond faster to attacks.
With at least eight candidates killed, and many others receiving daily death threats, campaigning has mostly consisted of parties employing staff to post leaflets and set up posters. Many of the posters are torn down the same day, while others are burned.
The polling process itself is confusing many people. With 7,785 mostly unnamed candidates on the lists of 83 coalitions of political parties, voters have little idea who they will be voting for. Each list contains between 83 and 275 candidates, running on platforms championing all sorts of causes.
Story.
posted by chris at 1:39 PM
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