Iraq Press Roundup

The purpose of campaign slogans

Campaign slogans offered by candidates for the provincial elections are based on false promises of improved social services, al-Bayyna of the Iraqi Hezbollah Party said Wednesday.

Public officials have the right to issue campaign slogans and other materials they feel will give them the best chance to stand out among the hundreds of thousands of names on the Jan. 31 ballot.

At issue, however, is the manner by which most candidates try to lure voters to the polls. Most of those running for office are using the same slogans that brought a failed system to power in the last elections in 2005.

One of these slogans, used almost universally, is the promise of improving the social services for the poor, though some focus on prosecuting those who are at fault for the failed social service system in general. Still others focus on the lack of order and the need to consider voter concerns.

Officials have warned candidates against playing on sectarian concerns and languishing in the past by pushing things like security and stability, yet this does nothing to address the criticisms of the current situation in Iraq, the newspaper said.

To provide a service to the citizens is the promise of campaign slogans, and those who speak the tongue of evil are those who are disposing of the future for Iraq.

Clans and the games of elections

Iraqi provincial elections inspire a wave of sectarian support as the occupier's vision of dividing the country gains ground, al-Basaer newspaper of the Association of Muslim Scholars said Wednesday.

A surge of cheap sectarian efforts sponsored by occupation forces is seen in the wave of popular support for these clans, the Sunni newspaper said.

These players entered the elections by gathering support based on false promises not to sacrifice Iraqi land and by advocating positions that are largely a mirage.

Iraqi tribes may be far from embracing such deplorable games, but at the expense of the people, some groups are able to get away with such schemes in order to seize power to ensure the survival of the American occupation.

False promises of a better future and mock campaigns are only embraced as a way to exploit the wealth and cultural heritage of the Iraqi people, ultimately dooming their future.

These falsehoods are evident in yet another round of elections under American occupation and are therefore no different than the forces of evil that are intent on advocating a culture of surrender.

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Campaign vandalism is a sign of fear

Destroying campaign material should be discouraged, as the large number of candidates for provincial council seats shows a public ripe for change, al-Iraq lil-Kul said Wednesday.

The newspaper cites condemnations by Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, who criticized the rampant practice of vandalizing campaign material ahead of the Jan. 31 provincial council elections.

The disruption of the campaign season is a sign of weakness and shows that those in power are afraid others may emerge to take their positions in the provinces, Chalabi said.

It also should be discouraged as it is a threat to candidates who are exercising their rights to campaign freely in a democratic system.

This election system is different in that candidates can campaign on an open slate, showing that the people are not satisfied with the previous election in 2005.

Iraq holds elections in all but the three Kurdish provinces and Kirkuk on Jan. 31.

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(Edited by Daniel Graeber)