Calls for Iraq elections to be postponed

LEADING Iraqi political parties called yesterday for elections scheduled for January 30 to be delayed because of Iraq’s widening violence.

Following a meeting at the Baghdad home of Adnan Pachachi, an influential, moderate Sunni leader and former presidential candidate, 15 political parties and groups signed a petition calling for the election to be put off for up to six months.

“The participants call for elections to be delayed and to be held within six months, allowing for changes in the security situation and completion of necessary arrangements in terms of organisation and administration,” the petition read.

Three interim government ministers attended the meeting and representatives from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) signed the petition.

A delegate from the Iraqi National Accord, headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, attended the meeting but did not sign.

No representatives from the country’s two main Shi’ite parties, Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, were present, underlining the political schism.

The move comes amid mounting violence throughout the country, particularly in Sunni Muslim areas to the north and west of Baghdad, and follows calls from influential Sunni religious and political groups for the poll to be postponed.

British security firm Global Risk Strategies said four of its employees were killed and around 15 wounded in a mortar attack on the heavily defended Green Zone on Thursday.

In recent weeks, the Muslim Clerics’ Association, a group of senior Sunni scholars, has called for a boycott of the poll.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country’s main Sunni party, which also attended the meeting and signed the petition, has said it would boycott the elections if they went ahead as planned.

In the wake of the US-led offensive on the Sunni city of Fallujah, and fighting in Sunni-dominant towns such as Samarra, Baquba, Tikrit and areas around Baghdad, the parties argue there is not enough time to arrange free and fair elections. But most Shi’ites, who make up around 60% of Iraq’s population, are eager for early elections.

Oppressed during Saddam Hussein’s rule, they are eager to cement the increased political power they have gained since his overthrow.

Iraq’s interim constitution says elections must be held by the end of January to choose a parliament that will select a new cabinet and oversee the writing of a permanent constitution.

Pachachi’s backing for a delay is significant. The Sunni politician is seen as an Iraqi elder statesman, closely allied to Washington, which wants to see the elections go ahead as planned. He was the preferred choice of the United Nations for the Iraqi presidency, the post which went to Ghazi al-Yawar.

Kurdish participation is also significant as they are close to the US and Kurdish regional elections were also due to be held on January 30.