Pressure is mounting on the Iraqi government to postpone the forthcoming elections, Omayma Abdel-Latif reports Nothing could more aptly describe the current state of Iraqi politics than the Iraqi interim government's website. The site, which has a number of different sections touching on issues such as the constitution, law, security, business and economy, also boasts two sections entitled "Electoral process" and "Elections". Obviously, as the country goes to the polls in less than three weeks' time, the web visitor expects to find election education material, information about the parties and candidates vying for office, or even guidelines to Iraqi voters -- particularly those living abroad -- on how to cast their votes and where. Yet none of this is on offer. Instead, under the title "Electoral process", there is just a blank page, reflecting -- perhaps -- the political vacuum of the country. A vacuum which, many Iraqi observers believe, is unlikely to be filled any time soon. Although the date set for the elections is fast approaching, Iraqis are still divided over whether or not the 30 January polls should be held on time, and against all odds. This week, contradictory statements made by Iraqi officials only added to the confusion. Breaking ranks with the common line toed by the Iraqi interim government, Defence Minister Hazem Al-Shaalan told reporters, during a visit to Cairo on Monday, that the elections could still be delayed if Egypt was willing to mediate with the Iraqi Sunnis in order to secure their participation. "We have asked our Arab brothers, particularly in Egypt and the Gulf countries, to get Iraqi Sunnis to participate in the elections, and if such participation requires a delay to the election date, then it could be delayed," Al-Shaalan said. He also acknowledged that the boycott by Iraq's mainstream Sunni parties meant that "one-half of Iraqi society would not be represented in these elections." It was not clear whether Al-Shaalan's statements reflected a now dominant view within the Iraqi government in favour of postponement to secure Sunni involvement. Earlier this week, another Iraqi minister disclosed that the government appeared to be "in a state of flux" over the timing issue. Such statements, however, are above all a symptom of the growing realisation within Iraqi government circles that a legitimacy crisis is likely to confront the new government should all Sunni forces obey the boycott call. Al-Shaalan's statements came in response to mounting pressure after a request for a delay was put forward by Sunni- dominated political forces. In response to Al-Shaalan's call for Arab mediation, Jawad Al-Maliki, a senior member of Al-Daawa party, said that while any Arab involvement would be welcome, Iraqis will not accept any mediation that has sectarian motivations. "Any intervention which is sectarian-based will not be accepted by Iraqis," Al-Maliki told Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview from Baghdad. "If we ask Egypt and the Gulf to mediate for the Sunnis, and seek Iran's help to exercise influence on Iraq's Shia, and Turkey on the Turcoman, this will simply open the door to external interventions in Iraq's internal affairs." Since IGC officials were still hoping that the participation of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) in the election would make up for the absence of other Sunni forces, the party's decision to pull out last week dealt a severe blow to the whole political process. The move prompted US officials to float the idea of an appointed quota, which could conveniently be used to secure a place for Iraqi Sunnis in the national assembly, and thus forestall any attempts to contest the legitimacy of the assembly. But Iraq's mainstream Sunni forces poured scorn on the proposal, saying that even if appointments of Sunni figures were made, their legitimacy would remain in question in the eyes of most Iraqis. "The National Assembly will be without legitimacy," Tariq Al-Hashemi, deputy head of the IIP, told Al-Jazeera TV station earlier this week, "and we will reject the constitution that it draws up if it goes against our principles." He predicted that other Sunni forces would pull out of the election in the coming days. And sure enough, another veteran Iraqi politician, Adnan Pachachi, who heads the Independent Democrats coalition, also considered a secular Sunni-dominated movement, said that his party was considering boycotting the elections. In an interview with Al-Arabiya TV station, Pachachi pointed out that while his party was -- until now -- still planning to contest the elections, he personally favoured postponement. Last month, Pachachi, along with several Iraqi forces from across the political divide, issued a statement in which he called for a six-month elections delay. In his TV interview this week, he implicitly suggested that his party might yet choose to pull out of the elections, but added that this would be "a last minute decision". Pachachi argued that the legitimacy of the new Iraqi constitution, which is to be drafted by the newly- elected National Assembly, is bound to be questionable even with the Independent Democrats' participation, since many parts of Iraq -- mainly the Sunni regions around Anbar, Mosul and Baghdad -- will be unrepresented in the assembly. Some Iraqi figures, however, are playing down the impact of a Sunni boycott on the elections. Al-Maliki, who is himself a candidate for the Unified Iraqi Alliance, one of the popular electoral lists which is said to have the blessing of Iraq's most prominent religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, dismissed the claims that the Sunnis would be largely unrepresented. "The Kurds are Sunnis, the Turcoman are Sunnis, and there are also Sunni candidates still running for election," he said. "Those forces which chose to boycott, like the IIP or the Association of Muslim Scholars, do not represent all of the Sunnis in Iraq." Al-Maliki explained that even the Sadrists, followers of young Shia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, who is boycotting the elections too, actually have candidates running. The United Iraq Alliance list, Al-Maliki explained, has more than 20 candidates from the Sadrist movement. "While the leadership itself is not participating, they have nominated people whom they say are representative of the Sadrist movement." Al-Maliki and other Iraqi politicians also disclosed that negotiations are in fact underway with all Iraqi forces to participate in the elections. An election delay, according to Adnan Al- Asady, deputy head of Al-Daawa Party, would only mean a continuation of the administrative and constitutional vacuum from which the country is already suffering. Neither Al-Asady nor Al-Maliki consider the constantly deteriorating security situation to be a hindrance that might justify postponement. Most parts of Iraq, they argue, are secure enough to hold elections there, except for Baghdad, Mosul and Anbar governorates. But it is precisely because of this security situation that Iraq is being treated as a single electoral entity across which the number of seats will be directly proportional to the number of votes each party gets. Meanwhile, the security situation deteriorated yet further this week, as it witnessed a qualitative shift in the nature of some of the attacks carried out by Iraqi resistance groups. According to Pachachi, one of the greatest challenges facing the Iraqi government is that large numbers of Iraqis will choose to stay away from the polls, not in protest, but out of fear for their lives. Attacks against political figures and parties have intensified this week. The climax came on Tuesday when Baghdad's Governor Ali Al- Haidry was assassinated on his way to work. On Monday, the headquarters of the Iraqi National Accord, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's party, was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing three people and wounding 25. As further evidence of the risk which deteriorating security poses for the electoral process, attackers have begun to target election workers and candidates, forcing many electoral employees to resign from their jobs. In a statement posted on the Internet, one resistance group, Ansar Al- Sunna, urged Iraqis to boycott the elections, and warned that "no one who agrees to take part in this dirty farce will be safe." "This vote is a mockery organised by the enemy in order to grant legitimacy to the new government," the statement continued. "To participate in these elections is the biggest gift that we could give America. And America is the enemy of Islam, and the tyrant of the age."
