Iraqis in the predominantly Sunni city of Husaybah, wait in lines to vote, during the national election, December 15. Just a few weeks earlier, Soldiers and Marines battled insurgents in this city, located along the Syrian border.Iraqis wait in line to vote
The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parties and coalitions. 230 seats were apportioned among Iraq's 18 governorates based on the number of registered voters in each as of the January 2005 elections, including 59 seats for Baghdad Governorate.[1] The seats within each governorate were allocated to lists through a system of Proportional Representation. An additional 45 "compensatory" seats were allocated to those parties whose percentage of the national vote total (including out of country votes) exceeded the percentage of the 275 total seats that they had been allocated. Women were required to occupy 25% of the 275 seats.[2]
The change in the voting system gave more weight to Arab Sunni voters, who made up most of the voters in several provinces.[citation needed] It was expected that these provinces would thus return mostly Sunni Arab representatives, after most Sunnis boycotted the previous election.[citation needed]
Parties and coalitions
The deadline for registering parties and coalitions closed on 28 October. The Electoral Commission announced that 228 lists had been registered, including 21 coalitions.
The emerging Iraqi political scene was marked by groups of established parties running on joint lists, often grouped on sectarian or ethnic grounds. These lists are not necessarily stable, as the parties sharing a list may be past or present rivals; the situation will be even more complicated for the December 2005 election because parties can form different alliances in different governorates. The landscape is currently fluid; what follows is a list of some of the more important parties and coalitions, with a focus on alliances that have shifted since the January 2005 election.
United Iraqi Alliance (#555)
This coalition, dominated by Shi'ite parties, was formed to contest the January 2005 election with the blessing of AyatollahAli al-Sistani, the most senior Shi'ite cleric based in Iraq. It won the most votes in that election and became the senior partner in the coalition government that ran Iraq for most of 2005. The UIA's main components were:
In advance of the December 2005 elections, Moqtada al-Sadr's party chose to join the Alliance. However, the Iraqi National Congress and Iraqi Hezbollah left the Alliance to form their own lists.
In a blow to the Alliance, AyatollahAli al-Sistani announced that he would not back any particular party for the election; he merely encouraged people to vote "according to their beliefs." He is said to have been disappointed with the performance of the transitional government.
It was initially reported before the election that the UIA seats would be split between the parties as follows:
This coalition will also contest the December elections, but the smaller Kurdistan Islamic Union, who won 10 percent of the seats in the Dahuk and Sulaymaniyah governorate elections in January, has announced that it will form its own governmental lists.
Iraqi National List (#731)
The Iraqi List was established by Iyad Allawi, who served as interim Prime Minister before the January 2005 election. It is dominated by his Iraqi National Accord party.
The Iraqi Islamic Party originally registered for the January elections but then decided to boycott the polls, which meant that it did not gain any seats. It has decided to participate in the December elections, forming a list called the Iraqi Accord Front with two other smaller parties, the Iraqi Peoples' Gathering and the Iraqi National Dialogue. These parties aim to tap the Sunni Arab vote; Sunni Arabs overwhelmingly boycotted the January election, but increased Sunni participation in the constitutional referendum may indicate an increased Sunni turnout for the December elections, especially because more than 1,000 Sunni clerics called on their followers to vote, according to The New York Times .[4] However, the Association of Muslim Scholars, which is influential in the Sunni community, has called for a boycott of the December elections, which could have an adverse impact on the Iraqi Accord Front's success.
Other lists
National Peace List (#635) Led by Laith Kubba, the spokesman of the current Iraqi PM, Ibrahim Al-Jaafari
Al-Risaliyun (#631), "The Upholders of the Message" (or "Message Party" or "Progressives" in the IECI translation). This is a list of Sadrists that do not support the UIA and was backed by one of al-Sadr's collaborators, sheikh Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji.
Iraqi National Dialogue Front (#667) - A mainly Sunni coalition, unlike the accord it is avowedly secular and opposed to the new constitution. It is led by Saleh al-Mutlak, who was a leader of Sunni opposition to the new constitution.
Iraqi Free Progressive Party (#568). Its leader, Iraqi Sunni politician Mizhar Dulaimi was shot dead while campaigning in Ramadi on December 13. The previous night, he had appeared on television urging Sunnis to take part in the elections. [2]
A group of Iraqi citizens walking down a path showing their purple fingers, signifying that they had voted.
On 22 December 2005 Sunni Arab and secular Shiite factions demanded that an international body review election fraud complaints, and threatened to boycott the new legislature. The United Nations rejected the idea.
Large demonstrations broke out across Iraq on 23 December to denounce the elections. Protesters said that the elections were rigged in favor of the main religious Shiite coalition. Many Iraqis outside the religious Shiite coalition allege that the elections were unfair to smaller Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups. As many as 20,000 people demonstrated after noon prayers in southern Baghdad. Over 2,000 people demonstrated in Mosul, accusing Iran of involvement in the election.
Violence in Iraq increased following the election on 15 December.[6] The president of the Students' Union of Mosul University, Qusay Salahaddin, was abducted and killed after leading a demonstration against the election results.[7] Approximately 2,000 students gathered at the mosque where his body was transported, accusing militia forces affiliated with one of the main parties in the Shiite Alliance bloc for Salahaddin's murder. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killing.[8]
