PRT SALAH AD DIN: SALAH AD DIN CLAMORS FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000988

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PINS KCRS IZ
SUBJECT: PRT SALAH AD DIN: SALAH AD DIN CLAMORS FOR
ELECTIONS

Classified By: Classified By PRT Leader Rick Bell for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (U) This is a PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din reporting cable.


2. (C) Summary: With the withdrawal of the veto of the
Provincial Powers Law by the Presidency Council, Salah Ad Din
leaders, as well as the public, are enthusiastically
anticipating provincial elections. Interlocutors almost
without exception say that elections, if and only if
conducted on the open list system, will go a long a way
toward correcting imbalances resulting from the Sunni boycott
of the previous elections in January 2005. End Summary.


3. (C) With the withdrawal of the Presidency Council veto of
the Provincial Powers Law, the residents and leaders of Salah
ad Din (SaD) are enthusiastically anticipating provincial
elections. However, without prompting, expressions of
excitement come with the caveat that the elections must
proceed on the basis of an open list system. A broad range
of SaD PRT contacts blame the previous closed list system for
the lack of accountability among elected leaders. Our
interlocutors, especially those who do not hold office, say
that they want to know whom to hold to account for perceived
failures in the provision of basic services. The only voice
in favor of a closed list election came from VP Hashimi's
representative in the province, Ali Al Ajeenie. (Comment:
Al Ajeenie's support for the closed list system is likely a
matter of preserving the Baghdad-centric status quo as many
in the province say that the Salah Ad Din representatives in
the CoR do nothing for the province, never visit the province
(which is true) and will not be re-elected. End Comment.)

Disproportionate Representation in the Current PC
-------------- --------------


4. (C) The consequences of the Sunni boycott are starkly
demonstrated by the disproportionate representation in the
current Provincial Council (PC),with the ethnically
unrepresentative and geographically distant district of Tuz
holding 40 percent of the seats, while the districts of
Samarra and Ad Dawr have no seats. The challenges faced by
Samarra in gaining support for and coordination with the
provincial capital in Tikrit is due in no small measure to
the absence of Samarrans on the PC. Additionally, the
sizable "Tuz Bloc" has used their clout to garner a much
greater share of provincial funding for Tuz that its
population would logically warrant.


5. (C) The boycott has also bred resentment directed at the
Al-Juboori tribe, which did not participate in the boycott
and holds most of the key provincial leadership positions and
about 40 percent of the seats in the PC.

Political Jockeying Just Starting
--------------


6. (C) Given the lack of an election law, most politicians
have only just begun to jockey for position. Deputy Governor
Abdullah is apparently pounding the pavement for his as yet
unofficial "New Baath Party." (Comment: The Deputy Governor
has not yet told PRTOFFS directly that he is forming this
party and in a recent conversation called himself an
independent. Other reporting indicates that he is indeed
actively working on building this unfortunately named party.
End Comment) Tawafuq bloc representatives in SaD told PRTOFF
that they were well advanced in identifying two candidates
from every district and were extremely confident that they do
well in the election.


7. (C) Comment: Enthusiasm for elections is clear. There
will be no repeat of the 2005 Sunni boycott. Local leaders,
officials and ordinary people are beginning to see how
important it is to lobby provincial officials and their
experiences in doing so have given them a better
understanding of how democracy works and how important
representation is at the provincial level. They also
understand that elections are the ultimate way of holding
their elected officials accountable. End Comment
CROCKER