IRAQ: Big turnout in Iraq's largely peaceful election as Sunnis vote amid heavy security.

Record ID: 328915

  • Title: IRAQ: Big turnout in Iraq's largely peaceful election as Sunnis vote amid heavy security.
  • Date: 16th December 2005
  • Summary: A NAJAF RESIDENT VOTING
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9QSTF23PNA9OULTZTQCBQOYTK
  • Story Text: Undeterred by scattered violence, Iraqis voted in overwhelming numbers in an election on Thursday (December 15), with minority Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last poll determined not to miss out on power again.
    Turnout in 10 hours of voting was at least 10 million, or 67 percent, Election Commission chief Hussein Hendawi told Reuters, much higher than the 58 percent who voted in the previous election on January 30.
    The demand to vote was so strong that polling stations were kept open an extra hour to allow those waiting in line to cast ballots. In Saddam Hussein's home province more than 80 percent of voters turned out, an electoral official said.
    The largely peaceful vote, which will raise U.S. hopes that a stable government can pave the way for American troops to eventually pull out of Iraq, was in sharp contrast to January's election for an interim assembly, when 40 people died.
    Sunni Arabs mostly boycotted that poll but took part with determination and enthusiasm on Thursday, backed by nationalist rebels who vowed to protect voters.
    In Falluja turnout touched 70 percent, local officials said, and in Kurdish regions and the Shi'ite south it was also high.
    There was a range of complaints about voting irregularities, and allegations flew about attempts to influence the vote in some northern cities, but overall the process went smoothly, the Electoral Commission said in Baghdad.
    "I hope these elections will pave our way to freedom and democracy, and we need services (electricity, water) for all Iraqi people," said a voter in Baghdad.
    Polls closed shortly after 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) and counting began immediately. Definitive results are not expected for two weeks or more, the Electoral Commission said.
    Informal polling by Reuters around the country showed the ruling Shi'ite Islamist Alliance and their Kurdish allies still dominant in their southern and northern bases respectively.
    But there also seemed to be a strong turnout in favour of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who heads a secular slate with candidates from across Iraq's sectarian divides. He has sought to split the previously dominant Islamist Shi'ite vote.
    While voting went well generally, two people were killed in mortar attacks in Mosul and Tal Afar in the north and three, including a U.S. Marine, were wounded when a mortar round landed in Baghdad's Green Zone as polls opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT).
    The interior minister said a suicide car bomber was shot dead in Baghdad and police said they arrested another east of the capital. The U.S. military separately announced that a Marine had been killed near Ramadi on Wednesday.
    But a nationwide three-day traffic ban, and the presence of 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police backed up by U.S. troops, succeeded in protecting 6,000 polling stations.
    U.S. diplomats hope that if Sunnis are drawn into the political process, the revolt will be undermined, letting Iraqis gradually take over security without provoking a civil war.
    Once a coalition government is formed, which could take weeks, the first task of the new parliament is to address Sunni grievances over the constitution, passed with Shi'ite and Kurdish votes in a referendum. Another challenge is building up Iraqi security forces so foreign troops can go home.
    While those battles lie ahead, there was hope of a better future among voters on Thursday.
    "We hope that this day brings us to security, democracy, freedom and stability and the withdrawal of the occupiers. We hope that all the Iraqi people will go to the polling stations to vote for the voice of right versus wrong," said a Tikrit voter.
    Yet underlying a vote in which Iraqis can choose among 231 lists, is also widespread sectarian fear and mistrust.
    Healing the rifts was the campaign theme of Allawi, appointed prime minister last year under U.S. occupation.
    Many believe he could lead a broad coalition government, a development Washington might endorse after losing patience with Jaafari, whose term has seen the rise of violent pro-government militias and warm ties with America's enemies in Shi'ite Iran.
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