Iraqi deputy PM calls for "rolling" provincial elections to begin soon

2008-01-24 13:51:38 -

 

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - Iraq's deputy prime minister said Thursday that he favors a series of «rolling» local elections as part of a crucial push to devolve power to the nation's provinces, and that the first votes are likely to begin «soon.
Barham Saleh said the idea was part of the Provincial Powers Act that must be ratified by Iraq's parliament and that passage of the legislation was vital. The bill is among a list of key legislation aimed at reconciling Iraq's rival ethnic and sectarian communities but which have been stalled for months.
«This is a very crucial piece of legislation that will define the character of the Iraqi state,» Saleh, an Iraqi Kurd, told a panel on peace and stability at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Saleh said a draft of the legislation «involves devolving power from the central (government) to the provinces which is crucial for local democracy.
Saleh did not give any details on where or exactly when such votes would begin, but he singled out Sunni areas as being of particular concern. Saleh said the security situation in the areas during the last vote prevented the majority of the population from taking part, and it was important to make those populations feel they were back in the system.
«I suspect there will be rolling elections sometime soon because the political demand from the local communities is really growing for that,» he said, adding that the votes «will be part of the political track that we are talking about of an inclusive system.
A rolling vote would enable the government to hold elections in provinces that are relatively stable, and defer voting in hotspots like Diyala that are still quite violent.
Though Saleh did not specifically mention Shiite areas, a rolling vote would also allow new elections in Shiite areas where the political landscape has changed dramatically since local administrations were elected three years ago.
Some groups that now have wide followings fared poorly in the January 2005 balloting.
In his comments, Saleh also said Iraq still faces daunting and profound challenges, but that the relative drop in violence over the past few months was encouraging.
«I can say for the first time in a long, long time that maybe Iraq is on the road to win the battle against Islamic fanaticism and religious extremism,» he said.
The deputy prime minister said the country owed its success in ratcheting down violence in recent months to politics, more than military tactics.
«The lesson of last year is that military might is not enough to defeat terrorism. It is about politics, it is about inclusiveness and it about giving the community a stake in the fight against terrorism,» he said.