ON EVE OF ELECTION BAGHDAD LEADERS ANTICIPATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 005004

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: ON EVE OF ELECTION BAGHDAD LEADERS ANTICIPATE
LARGE, PEACEFUL TURNOUT.

Classified By: Political Counselor Robert S. Ford,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) PolOff spoke with selected leaders throughout
Baghdad to gauge the mood of the public on the eve of
the December 15 elections. In NE Baghdad Sunni Arab
Dr. Riyadh Hassir Al Adhadh, District Advisory Council
(DAC) and City Councilman reports the largely Sunni
district of Al Adhamiyah is peaceful and expecting a
large turnout of voters. In Central Old Town Baghdad,
Al Rusafa DAC Councilman, Shia secular politician
Adnan Abdul Hassan, said the district is quiet, and he
expected 45 percent of the people in Rusafa to support
Alawi.


2. (C) Omar Hayder Ali, a Sunni Arab member of the
Baghdad City Council, told PolOff things were peaceful
in his neighborhood of Maghrid except for one bomb on
December 15 that appeared to explode in the adjacent
neighborhood of Wazirrya. Omar also said people were
concerned about the reports of thousands of forged
ballots being discovered from Iran. Shia secular
politician Hussein Hafed Al Bahraini, an advisor to
the mayor of Baghdad, said the people in Karada
District are ready to vote and show their support for
the democratic process.


3. (SBU) Comment. Our contacts indicate that
throughout Baghdad Province the best description is so
far so good. These four politicos, who all support
secular parties, were optimistic that their parties
would do well and that the election might have
problems but generally would be credible. Their
optimism is matched, at least publicly, by Shia
Islamists here demonstrating peacefully tonight near
the International Zone.
KHALILZAD