Iraq’s first election since US pullout marked by death over political optimism

April 30th, 2014

David Schulberg

Members of Iraq’s anti-terrorism force are deployed outside polling stations in central Baghdad on April 29, 2014, one day ahead of Iraq’s first general election since US troops withdrew. (AFP Photo)

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Al-Qaeda, Conflict, Crime, Election, Iraq, Lucy Kafanov, Opposition, Politics, Religion, Terrorism, USA, Violence, War

Any manifestation of democracy in Iraq is inevitably accompanied by bloodletting, as parliamentary elections kick off for the first time since US withdrawal amid unrelenting sectarian violence, hampering an already troubled political process.

In the current situation, even a successful attempt to bring
people out to vote is no guarantee of quick results. The country
is as fragmented politically as it is on the battlefield. Based
on recent experience, even if voting demonstrates the success of
democracy, a working coalition will take a great deal of time to
establish. It took nine months to agree after the last election
in 2010. That was when the United States was still around.

Twenty-two million Iraqis have turned out to elect a 328-seat
parliament, with more than 9,000 candidates vying for spots, as
the incumbent prime minister of eight years, Nouri al-Maliki will
seek a third term. He was among the first to cast his vote today
in the Green Zone, where the government is based. Addressing his
nation, he was quoted by reporters as saying, “I call upon
the Iraqi people to head in large numbers to the ballot boxes to
send a message of deterrence and a slap to the face of
terrorism.”

Today, in central Baghdad, security has been ramped up, with
voter searches performed before anyone is allowed inside a
polling station. Police blocks and barbed wire line the capital’s
streets.

And while the seemingly futile attempts at political order are
made, chaos and disorder reign across the country. Voting in
parts of the west has been canceled due to increased violence. In
Fallujah, Sunni anti-government sentiment is marked by popular
calls to rise up, showing just how difficult an inclusive
political process is at this time.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki casts his ballot during parliamentary election in Baghdad April 30, 2014. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Iraq’s security forces have not been successful after months of
trying to take areas like the province of Anbar from the clutches
of armed extremists. It has become a focal point of Sunni
discontent.

Attacks have been taking place with a steady regularity –
especially on electoral officials. Wednesday afternoon saw two
roadside bombs go off in the north of the country, killing two
staff from the electoral commission, further wounding two
security officers, according to an army general. The attack took
place to the north-west of the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk.
Another two electoral stations were attacked with RPGs on the
outskirts of Baghdad, as well as one in Mosul, 400km north of the
capital – killing one. The total death toll from the Wednesday
attacks stands at 11 at the time of publication.

A string of attacks took 24 lives across the country on Tuesday
as well – the worst was a double bombing that killed 17 people in
an outdoor market just outside Baghdad, in which most of the
victims belonged to the Kurdish minority.

This follows Monday’s carnage, which claimed a further 50 in a
wave of suicide attacks by militants disguised as security force
members. Most of these targeted election campaigns.

2014 saw the deadliest April since 2008, and 4,000 lives have
been lost since the start of this year alone, as the Shia
government forces of al-Maliki engage a Sunni opposition. More
than 400,000 have been displaced.

Al-Maliki’s party rose to prominence in 2006, just as violence
started to really spiral out of control, with Sunni and Shia
militants constantly striking each other’s populations. His party
is expected to win the most seats on Wednesday, but is still
unlikely to take a majority.

“Our victory is confirmed,” Reuters quoted him as
saying, “but we are still talking about how big this victory
will be.” This victory will depend on the PM’s ability to
get a coalition together, and given the criticism he has received
from nearly all ethnic and political denominations in the
country, that is unlikely to happen, even amid an atmosphere of
Al-Qaeda-inspired violence by groups like The Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which puts him in a unique position
to be cast in the role of the defender of Shiites against
extremist Sunni elements.

Despite the elections offering hope of a way forward, “the
fear is that it’ll only fan the flames of discontent. The prime
minster has been accused of being too authoritarian… of making
sectarian divisions worse, instead of better,” RT’s Lucy
Kafanov reports. “But the opposition is too fractured to
mount a serious challenge.”

Resident mark their ballots at voting booths at a polling station during parliamentary election in Baghdad April 30, 2014. (Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani)

Since the violence of 2006, and up until 2008, the situation had
somewhat calmed down, as the Americans reigned in the Sunni
opposition, using their help to fight the more extreme, terrorist
elements. But the Sunni-Shia animosity has since come back worse
than ever, as Sunni Iraqis are complaining against discrimination
by the government. That is aside from the already existing
criticism of corruption and failures on all fronts, from
infrastructure to health to education and the economy.

These are not only the first democratic elections since the US
military pullout – they’re also the fourth since former leader
Saddam Hussein’s ouster in 2003. It is becoming clear to some
that any chances of stability, political or otherwise, have
actually decreased since the time the start of the American
occupation.

Political scientist, Iraq War veteran and former US Marine Jake
Diliberto believes this vote is not an indication of change, but
a barely useful attempt to path up a sectarian hole that’s been
left by the American occupation.

“Political elections going on in Iraq is going to bring two
possible problems and two possible very good events: the first
and biggest problem is sectarian tensions; the other problem is
that Al-Qaeda could demonstrate itself as a powerful force by
bombing election cycles, putting fear and intimidation into
communities,” which could lead many to boycott the elections
out of fear, Diliberto believes.

He sees the continuing spiral of brutality and government
powerlessness as arising out of a combination of two things:
“because of long-term traditional problems within the
sectarian communities and because of the US inability to bring
political results post-2003 invasion.”

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Iraq’s first election since US pullout marked by death over political optimism
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