Iraq Press Roundup

The points of rejection for the elections

The January provincial elections are an important national right that will set the stage for Iraqi developments in 2009, the daily al-Sabaah said Monday.

The elections are part of the democratic process that began in Iraq with general elections in 2005. Observers noted the Iraqi people believed in democratic reform when they took to the polls in 2005, hoping the elections would bring them out of misery.

The Iraqi people are charged with choosing honest and capable leaders. No longer are the people content with a type of government that brings misery, the paper said. The Iraqi people need to consider carefully their role in the political process when they take the risk to vote.

The January elections must avoid the pitfalls of sectarianism and corruption in order to avoid past mistakes when national leaders exploited their constituents. The Iraqi people, consequently, are wary of a dysfunctional political process that shuns peaceful negotiations among rivals.

The Iraqi people view elections with a degree of skepticism. Iraqi women are marginalized, yet they represent half of the population. In January the Iraqi people hope competent and capable leadership will emerge to bring integrity and creativity to the political process.

Government congruence between the opposed and the allied

The line between opposition parties no longer exists in the new Iraq, as alliances are fluid from one day to the next, the independent Addustour said Monday.

Political affiliations in modern democracies are composed of either opposition movements that criticize the status quo to bring about reform or those advocating a complete change through democratic means.

Many Iraqi politicians, however, do not understand their role in the democratic process. Iraqi leaders may form alliances to oppose one action but shift course later to walk away from the negotiating table with their original agendas in hand.

These skirmishes occur more often among members of the same political party, highlighting the dynamics of the Iraqi political system. Iraqi lawmakers reason that compromise gives them the right to interfere with their party's platform.

This, however, is not the time for contradictions, as developments in Iraq require a strong central government with the ability to make firm decisions regarding the direction of the country, the paper said.

The local copy of democracy

A failure to bring democracy to the Arab world is not the end of Middle East reform as the appeal of democracy is that time moderates potential conflicts, al-Bayyna of the Iraqi Hezbollah Party said Monday.

Equal and complete participation in the democratic process diminishes the negative effects of marginalization and decreases political tensions. The best treatment for a crisis is to inject more choices that are democratic and more freedoms into the system, the paper said.

An examination of the democratic experience shows its success stems from further efforts to reach its goal of embracing a system of constructive criticism and equal opportunity.

The democratic experience in Iraq, however, shows political institutes are only experienced with carrying slogans as a means of campaigning for January provincial elections.

The elections, Hezbollah said, are a narrow political stage that requires competent politicians with the appropriate ideology to confront national struggles.

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(Edited by Daniel Graeber)