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Full Participation Expected in Iraqi Election

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Ahead of Iraq’s March 5 elections, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad expects broad Iraqi participation in the vote, which he said can help contribute to political reconciliation in the country. He also said the United States must work with Iraqis to build political and democratic institutions, modernize the country’s economy, and help it establish productive relations with its neighbors.

Speaking to reporters at the State Department February 17, Ambassador Christopher Hill said he is encouraged by the level of Iraqi participation he has witnessed thus far in the electoral process.

“The campaign has really started in earnest. There are campaign placards all over every surface in the country, it seems, right now. There are some 6,198 candidates. There are 18.9 million registered voters. There are 300,000 poll station workers. There are 50,000 polling stations spread over 9,000 polling centers,” he said.

Ten countries, including the United States, which has provided $200 million to assist with the elections, will be providing election monitoring teams. The 26 U.S. teams will be spread over 18 Iraqi provinces, with extra personnel in the key areas of Anbar, Basra, Dyala, Kirkuk and Ninawa, Hill said.

“I think the trend is toward … full participation in the elections, and that’s what we’re all gearing up for,” the ambassador said.

The election “in many respects will determine the future of Iraq … and also the future of the U.S. relationship with Iraq,” he said. If the elections are done well, they “can be a source of political reconciliation,” he said.

Hill also underscored the need to show the continued U.S. commitment to Iraq in the aftermath of the election.

“As a new Iraqi government forms and lays out what kind of relationship it wants with the United States, they will need to see that the United States is committed to building a relationship that will work out to our mutual benefit in the long term,” he said.

U.S. troops will be working with Iraqi forces in an effort to forestall election-related terrorist attacks, but Hill said “everything is on schedule” for the end of U.S. combat missions by the end of August. He said approximately 50,000 U.S. troops will remain and be part of “advise-and-assist brigades” in support of Iraqi forces.

In February 17 remarks at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Hill said the Obama administration has identified three main areas of focus going forward in the U.S.-Iraqi bilateral relationship.

“We must help Iraq build healthy political and democratic institutions in an environment of peace and security,” he said. In addition, “we must help Iraq modernize its economy … [and] we must help Iraq establish a productive relationship with its neighbors.”

The 2010 election stands in contrast to the violent power struggles of 2006 and 2007, where “interests and power were played out on the streets against a backdrop of death, of uncertainty and fear,” he said.

Today, “power and interests are battling it out with election posters that frankly obscure the bridges and blanket the markets in every province,” Hill said. “It’s inspiring stuff.”

But he said the true test will not be in how the election winners behave, but how the election losers accept the results.

“I would argue in Iraq as elsewhere, losers have an even bigger responsibility to be part of the political process. And I’ve always felt that the quality of democracy is determined by the losers, and Iraq will be no exception to that,” Hill said.