The ballot box is taking over from the gun as a way of winning arguments in Iraq

Middle East Minister Bill Rammell examines the Iraqi elections which, he says, mark another milestone in Iraq’s development as a democracy, as over 14 million Iraqis go to the polls to select new provincial councils across the country. Elections are becoming a firm fixture in the Iraqi political calendar. But there is something different: this time the process has been totally Iraqi-led. The legislation is Iraqi, it is the Iraqi Higher Election Commission that has been working hard for nearly 18 months to put in place the processes and mechanism to ensure the Elections are free and fair, and it is the Iraqi Security Forces that have put in place a comprehensive countrywide security plan for the elections. Democracy has taken root in Iraq and is flourishing. The ballot box is taking over from the gun as a way of winning arguments in Iraq

Overview of Iraqi elections

Ranj Alaaldin examines what is at stake in the Iraqi provincial elections.

He writes that millions of Iraqis will vote in elections that will select governing councils in 14 of Iraqs 18 provinces and play a critical role in determining the next direction the country takes. The electoral atmosphere is electric. Ordinary Iraqis find themselves part of an election frenzy that will culminate in a voting turnout that should eclipse those of previous elections.

The elections could make a catalytic change to the political makeup of the country. They will set the stage for the national elections in December and lead to the formation of new alliances. They will be a battle between religion and secularism, nationalism and federalism, status quo and change. They will also affect the fate of US troops in the country. Those troops are this time stepping back to put to the test the Iraqi security forces' ability to independently oversee the elections.

Why we should engage with the new Iraq

As Iraqis go to the polls in the first of three major votes this year, Labour Friends of Iraq Director Gary Kent appeals to progressives to listen to Iraqis.

Many talk about Iraq as just a short hand term for disaster but few talk about or with Iraqis. Many focus on the rights and wrongs of the intervention in 2003 but few engage with the actually existing Iraq.

The country was pulverised by decades of fascist-type rule under Saddam. It was also both devastated by the intervention and the insurgency and also liberated from fascism.

Progressives should focus on the new Iraq, warts and all. There is much to celebrate and still much to worry about.

On the plus side, security is rapidly and radically improving as the Iraqi government and its security forces gain confidence and capacity.

The emphasis has switched from security to politics with provincial and parliamentary elections this weekend and in December, plus a referendum on the withdrawal agreements and population census mid-year.

Politics is a new profession for many in Iraq. Under Saddam, only his word counted. Dissent was suppressed. Nearly 200,000 Iraqi Kurds were murdered in genocidal attacks, which has now been recognised by the Iraqi Parliament and deserves greater recognition worldwide. 250,000 members and supporters of the now ruling Islamic Dawa Party, for instance, were murdered. Membership or any form of support for the Dawa Party was a capital offence and this applied to relatives to the third degree - parents, siblings and cousins.

People who were exiled, operating clandestinely or with the imminent possibility of death have now taken up politics. The practice of politics is not learned overnight. It is no surprise, therefore, that many parties are seeking political and other training.

A better trained and more experienced political class is vital to Iraq’s development as a democracy and all organisations with relevant programmes should see what they can do to assist Iraqi parties and others.

Independent civil society organisations have also blossomed since the demise of Saddam. They are key to underpinning a vibrant parliamentary democracy.

We are particularly pleased about the emergence of a new and independent labour movement. Unions were all but destroyed by Saddam and now organise across Iraq. The Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions seeks to bolster the new democracy, encourage women’s participation and bring together workers regardless of their creed. Many of their leaders were assassinated by the insurgents.

Yet unions are still subject to Saddam’s ban on public sector organisation and their funds were frozen in 2005. There has been a concerted global union campaign to lift these restrictions and this issue was raised directly with the Prime Minister by an LFIQ delegation to Baghdad last year.

There are some signs of progress but more moral and material assistance to the Iraqi unions is needed as part of a campaign to persuade Iraq to comply with ILO rules.

However, a union movement can only do so much if there is widespread employment after decades of destruction and economic backwardness and isolation.

Iraq’s problem, as one leading left-wing figure told me in Kurdistan, is that it doesn’t have a national capitalist class so could they borrow our bourgeoisie. They need foreign management experience and money to revive their natural and huge sources of wealth. There are many ambitious plans for new housing, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure including roads, rail, ports, airports and a new Metro in Baghdad. Agriculture and tourism are big growth areas.

However, the old images of death and destruction still predominate. Catching up with the new Iraqi realities is vital if progressives are to help the labour movement and if there is to be an increase in foreign investment and trade so that Iraq can flourish after its long nightmare.

The long-suffering Iraqi people deserve no less and a successful Iraq could add much to the prospects of peace and reform in the region.

Lords Question on women in Iraq

Lord Judd - To ask Her Majestys Government what are their plans for extending support for the role of women in civil society in Iraq.

Lord Brett: The UK supports a wide range of organisations and projects to develop the role of women in civil society in Iraq, including supporting the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights and Women. As part of this, the Department for International Development's (DfID) focus remains on the most vulnerable women through humanitarian contributions to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Organisation for Migration (IoM), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Iraqi constitution includes provisions protecting the rights of women. The UK Government will continue to work with the Iraqi authorities to ensure these rights are protected. Officials at our embassy in Baghdad, the FCO and the right honourable Ann Clwyd MP, the PM's special envoy for human rights in Iraq, regularly raise women's rights with the Iraqi Government at all levels.

News from the provincial elections in Iraq

See here and here for two interesting reports on the election campaign in Iraq.

Ann Clwyd on Iraqi history and the future

The Prime Ministers Special Envoy on Human Rights in Iraq Ann Clwyd recently made a splendid speech in the Commons in which she argued with passion that we need to look at the best ways of helping the people of Iraq rather than continually harking back to the past.

She also says - Since 2003, I agree that Iraq has gone through some terrible times. Insurgent groups have used violence and terrorism to try to stop democratic progress and to drag Iraq into the abyss of sectarian hatred and bloodshed. I have always believed, however, that the wisdom and ingenuity of the Iraqi people would win out and that Iraq could and would become a functioning democracy. Iraq has come a long way since 2003 and it has made real progress.

She concludes that - I know that as our military support to Iraq draws down, our work to support the growth of civil society and a culture of human rights will continue. I am hopeful that in 10 years’ time, Iraq will be a country where all of us, if we want to, can go on holiday in safety and that we will see a much-strengthened Iraqi democracy to which we have done much to contribute.

From Baghdad and Basra and Erbil to Belfast

Henry McDonald examines the educational links between Northern Ireland and Iraq. He quotes a British Council official saying that they have given Iraqi and UK school children a means of exchanging ideas, sharing their cultural experiences, and that is a remarkable achievement, given the circumstances. He concludes that until recently, the relationship between the UK and Iraq has been seen solely through the prism of the military presence in their country. Now we want to change that - and education is one way of doing it.

Baghdad Blogger goes home

The Baghdad Blogger Salam Pax returns, as many are doing and will blog from Iraq. He says - on the politics front, I have never felt as supportive of the current Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki as I was during the negotiations for the Status of Forces Agreement with the United States. For once it felt as if the Iraqi government could stand up for itself and not be a pushover. Yes, the negotiations were messy and the Iraqi parliament acted, in the end, like a bunch of kindergarten kids, but as an executive authority the prime minister and his cabinet mostly played hardball with the US negotiators. It was great to follow, and hopefully a sign of political maturity.

Increasing dialogue with Iraqis

Meg
Munn reports on LFIQ meeting with FCO Minister Bill Rammell.

Meg and Gary Kent, Director of Labour Friends of Iraq (LFIQ), recently met Bill Rammell, Minister of State at the Foreign Office with responsibility for the Middle East. They discussed how to help improve the understanding of Iraq within the UK and enhance relations between the two countries.

Meg and Gary explained that LFIQ aims to build support for the new Iraq, working closely with Iraqi politicians from a variety of political parties, Iraqi trade unions and other organisations in civil society. With British troops scheduled to leave Iraq during the course of this year, and the Iraqi government increasingly able to take on all aspects of governing it may be an opportune time to consider different ways the UK can continue to support Iraq. Bill Rammell indicated that the Foreign Office is interested in helping the further
development of such ideas.

TUC Aid Appeal - Give for Gaza

Please support this humanitarian appeal

All proceeds will be forwarded through the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) to support emergency humanitarian relief operations carried out by them in Gaza. All trade union relief operations are co-ordinated through Red Crescent in Jordan, Egypt and Gaza and focused on the identified needs of the people affected by the events. The first ITF-PGFTU humanitarian flight is due to leave for Gaza on 08 Jan 2009. The TUC supports an immediate ceasefire by both sides, and the pursuit of a political solution to the problems of the Middle East based on two states.

Provincial elections in Iraq

The New York Times reports on the provincial elections at the end of the month.

It says, for example - it is also the first time that large numbers of candidates like Mr. Kareem have decided for themselves that Iraq is sufficiently safe to campaign publicly and put their oversize pictures on posters and banners around the city. It sometimes seems that every square inch of blast wall in Baghdad is covered with them.

Hadi never died

It has now been four years since the murder of Hadi Saleh, the international officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, writes Eric Lee of LabourStart.

I had the honour of meeting Hadi not long before his death when he visited Britain. We discussed the trade unions in Iraq and ways in which we could give them support and solidarity.

Not long after Hadi was killed, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Britain published a book in his honour entitled "Hadi Never Died".

"On January 4, 2005," it began, "masked assassins broke into his home, bound his feet and hands, and blindfolded him. Then they tortured and burned his body and, finally, strangled him with an electric cord. A life of idealism and selflessness, filled with solidarity and love for his family, country and the labour movement, came to this terrible, pain-filled end."

The book does much more than describe Hadi's murder. It tells the story of death and re-birth of the Iraqi trade union movement.

"Hadi Never Died" is a large format, full-colour paperback and LabourStart is pleased to be able to offer it to our readers for £10.00 (about US$14.50) -- with free shipping to anywhere in the world.

Please order multiple copies for yourselves, your co-workers and other members of your union.

To order "Hadi Never Died" securely go to here

Iraq as a bridge between America and Iran

The LA Times reports the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to Iran to discuss economic, transportation and electricity issues. He said - our security achievements and redeeming Iraq from the sectarian war gave us the chance to exert more efforts to accelerate the process of reconstruction and development, which needs the presence of neighboring countries' companies.

Iraq's minister of education, Khudair Khuzai, also an Islamic Dawa member, said Maliki had an additional aim: to help improve relations between the U.S. and Iran. He said - we believe that having any tension between those countries will reflect negatively on Iraq, Iraq wants to be a [bridge] between both countries.

A new phase in Iraqi history has begun

The handover of security to the Iraqis on January 1st and the retrieval of sovereignty opens up a new phase in Iraqi history.

Surely, the key priority is helping Iraqis to rebuild their shattered country. We stand with the new and independent Iraqi labour movement which still needs support in its campaign to lift old and new restrictions on its activities. The unions and others can do so much to consolidate a vibrant civil society and democracy as well as making sure that social justice is part of the new Iraq.

This also requires renewing the economy. From our two delegations to Iraq – to the Kurdistan Region in 2006 and Baghdad in 2008 – we also know, from talking to union activists and ministers, that there is a great need for UK investment and trade together with other links and exchanges such as Iraq's plans to give 10,000 Iraqi students scholarships overseas.

Happy New Year

Gary Kent
Director Labour Friends of Iraq