Mosul Blanketed in Sunni Banners Ahead of Polls

"The candidate of the future," "give me your vote, I will make your dreams come true," "for a government taking good care of its citizens," and "no to corruption" are but few examples of the electoral slogans decorating the walls and streets of Mosul.

"In a country where bloodshed, kidnappings, killings and bombings almost never let up, these slogans look like hoary old clichés," Udai Al-Husseini, an Iraqi analyst and rights activist, told IslamOnline.net Sunday, December11 .

"The candidates," he added, "are using overstated slogans to lure voters and they should have really put things into perspective and come up with realistic and credible platforms."

Iraq's 15 . 5million voters will elect on December 15 their first full-term legislature since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime by US-led occupation forces in April2003 .

The parliament will in turn form a full-term, four-year government.

Five main coalitions based largely on sectarian or ethnic lines are dominating the election campaign across Iraq.

They are the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Kurdish alliance of the Democratic Kurdistan Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Sunni Iraqi Concord Front (ICF) and former premier Iyad Allawi’s secular-Shiite Iraqi National List (INL).

Favored Sunnis

Sunni candidates are expected to capture most of the 21 seats up for grabs in the predominantly Sunni governorate of Nineveh, where1 . 25million eligible voters are expected to cast their ballot.

One can hardly see billboards or posters of Shiite or Kurdish candidates, who campaign heavily in other governorates to maintain their hold on parliament.

Sunnis are determined that there would be no repeat of the boycott of January's election, which left their community marginalized in the current interim parliament and government.

"Unlike their Shiite rivals, who depend on the backing of the revered marjiya (religious authority), Sunni lists in Mosul are seeking the crucial tribal support, which is a real barometer of candidate popularity, or field reputable candidates," said Al-Husseini.

Mohammad Zannoun, a political expert and researcher in the University of Mosul, said the poll results looked decided in favor of the Sunni candidates.

"The ICF list is appealing to the voters since it enjoys political, tribal and religious backing," he said.

The pan-Sunni ICF groups the Conference of the People of Iraq (CPI), the Islamic Party and the Iraqi National Dialogue Council.

Zannoun said the Saleh Al-Mutlaq’s Iraqi Front for National Dialogue is also popular among the people of Mosul.

"Mutlaq was catapulted into the limelight thanks to his stance on the draft constitution," he noted.

Mutlaq was one of the most vocal Sunni leaders who opposed the draft constitution but then relented when Sunni drafters were promised that the new parliament would have the powers to amend the constitution and reconsider some sticking points like federalism and wealth share.

Zannoun expected voters to punish Sunni candidate Mashaan Al-Jabouri’s Reconciliation and Liberation list for his support of the US-led invasion of the country.

Heavyweight candidates like former president Ghazi Al-Yawer and notable tribesman Osama An-Najafi have also raised the stakes of Allawi’s INL in Mosul.

http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-12/11/article02.shtml