Iraqis out stumping for votes in show of democracy

Candidates in this month’s provincial elections are answering questions from voters and debating issues ranging from Baghdad’s housing shortage to the need to attract foreign investment.

This is the new style of campaigning in Iraq, where candidates feel safe enough to stump for votes and focus on grass-roots issues instead of the religious divisions and violence that overshadowed earlier elections held after Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled
in 2003.

The shift was evident at a weekend forum that brought together 13 candidates in the Jan. 31 election for provincial councils, including a communist, Shiites, Sunnis and a journalist who formed a party named after an Iraqi television show called “Let’s Talk.”

As a waiter in traditional Arab clothing poured coffee at the gathering in a Baghdad country club, the moderator and people in the audience asked candidates how they would improve public services.

They got one minute for each answer. And nobody was fazed when the power went out briefly – a common occurrence in a country that still has severe
electricity shortages.