Iraqi Army Voting Mired In Factional Politics
The April 13 elections for representatives of the Iraqi army and police in provincial councils revealed familiar Iraqi factionalism, writes Ali Abel Sadah.
Early voting among members of Iraq’s armed forces this week for provincial elections scheduled for April 20 reflected the same factionalism that currently characterizes Iraqi politics.
Government administrators and civilian activists agreed on the need to ensure the “smoothness” of the polling process for members of the police force and army. The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) boasted that the 2013 elections were the first to be undertaken solely by Iraqis without international assistance.
Kolshan Ahmed, a Kurdish member of the Board of Commissioners of the IHEC, told Al-Monitor that about 640,000 Iraqi soldiers took part in the special voting on April 13, 2013, with a 70% voter turnout.
About 720,443 people were supposed to participate in the special ballot — excluding the provinces of Nineveh and Anbar — according to a statement by the IHEC, when designated 425 polling stations for this process.
