KARBALA CONFEREES CONFUSED, CANDIDATES CRANKY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000178 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINR SOCI IZ SUBJECT: KARBALA CONFEREES CONFUSED, CANDIDATES CRANKY REF: BAGHDAD 137 Classified By: Team Leader Don Cooke for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). This is a PRT Karbala reporting cable. ¶1. (C) Summary: With fewer than ten days to go before the provincial elections, attendees at a PRT-sponsored voter-education conference organized by the UN Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) on January 21 expressed considerable confusion over voting procedures. Many were tribesmen who said they worry the ballot will prove too complex for ordinary Iraqis. Candidates, meanwhile, are trading jabs and exhibiting growing biliousness. A popular female Provincial Council (PC) aspirant claims to have been threatened by the Islamic Supreme Council for Iraq (ISCI),which she says has raised the price of vote-buying in the province due to unlimited funds from Iran. End Summary. Not in the Clear -------------- ¶2. (C) Karbala UNAMI representative and former governor Ali Kamonah played host to a voter education conference at a downtown restaurant on January 21. Underwritten by the PRT, the event was attended by approximately 150 persons (including a dozen women),many of them tribesmen from Kamonah's al-Asadi and other clans. Governor Aqeel Mahmoud al-Khazali and PRT leader Don Cooke kicked off the conclave with remarks hailing the upcoming elections as a momentous milestone on Iraq's journey from tyranny to freedom. In his address, Kamonah announced that a recent poll showed more than 85 percent of Karbalans intend to vote, the highest rate in any province, prompting an Iraqi wag to whisper to a PRT member that this is because -- with 1,279 candidates here -- nearly all of the 518,000 eligible voters are related to someone seeking office. The UNAMI representative then introduced local Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) official Falah Hassan Qassim, who, with the aid of photocopies of a sample ballot distributed to the conferees, proceeded to explain (for what, judging by the exasperated tone in his voice, must have been the umpteenth time) the mechanics of how citizens are to vote. ¶3. (C) No sooner had Qassim begun than the attendees started to grumble and shift in their chairs. It seemed clear that many found the instructions as explained by the IHEC official confusing, an impression confirmed when the floor was opened to questions. For nearly an hour, conferees bombarded Qassim with queries, the vast majority of which focused on the somewhat blurry (in all respects) photocopies in front of them. Most of those seeking clarity were tribesmen, a number of whom said they worry the text-laden ballot will prove too complex for ordinary Iraqis. Notable exceptions included questions about ballot-box security and vote-counting procedures. Abd al-Hamid al-Faraj, a communist member of the current PC, asked pointedly whether candidates caught buying votes would be prosecuted, causing Aqeel to squirm and grimace uncomfortably (the Governor's campaign recently was captured on camera purchasing support; see reftel). Qassim demurred, stating that such issues should be raised with the Justice Ministry, not IHEC. Peevish Pols -------------- ¶4. (C) Al-Faraj's thinly veiled jab at Aqeel exemplifies what we see as growing biliousness among the candidates as the campaign season draws to a close. Mohammad Sadiq al-Hir, president of the Karbala Hotel and Restaurant Association and an independent tribal candidate for the PC, confided to PRT members at the UNAMI conference that he finds it difficult to remain civil toward rivals he blames for "corrupting the process" by buying votes from citizens who will sell them and Qprocess" by buying votes from citizens who will sell them and intimidating those who won't. As if to illustrate this point, al-Hir -- upon arriving at the conference -- swept past the Governor to first greet members of the PRT also seated at the head table, a serious breach of protocol. An assistant to Acting Chairman Abd al-Al al-Yasiri told a PRT member on January 21 that the PC rarely has met during the past several weeks because many members are preoccupied with seeking reelection. He added that, when the Council does convene, all its members do is fight. The assistant attributed this to the stress all candidates are under, not knowing whether they will win or lose come January 31. The blood pressure of the already hypertensive Yasiri, he revealed, has gone "through the roof" in recent days. ¶5. (C) Vandalism and threats are likely to continue until election day. Police officials announced earlier this week that several youths "not affiliated with any candidate" had been arrested for defacing campaign banners near the city center. Fawzia al-Ghanem, a popular female candidate running BAGHDAD 00000178 002 OF 002 for a PC seat representing al-Husayniyah, also separately told a PRT member on January 21 that she was approached last month by Hamad Sahib Mohammad -- head of the ISCI/Badr Corps-backed "Shaheed al-Mihrab" list -- to join his "team." When she refused, stating she believed she could better represent the people as an independent, Mohammad reportedly vowed that ISCI and Badr would do all within their power to prevent her from winning. As a result, she continued, her posters repeatedly have been torn down and she nightly receives anonymous phone calls demanding that she withdraw from the race "or else." Al-Ghanem went on to claim that because both ISCI and the Da'wa party have access to "virtually unlimited Iranian money" to buy support, the going price for a vote has increased 40 percent from 50,000 Iraqi dinars (about $85) to 70,000 Iraqi dinars (about $119). With barely concealed glee, she said she heard Mohammad is furious that although many Karbalans flock to the free banquets ISCI offers daily, few intend to vote for the party's candidates. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) The road to the elections here -- as elsewhere -- has not been pothole-free. Nevertheless, we are impressed by the resilience and adaptability demonstrated by candidates and citizens alike as they embrace the rough-and-tumble of an open political system. A significant number of Karbalans may find the ballots confusing, and some of course will find the results disappointing. But looking to the future, we anticipate politically savvy people here to conclude that voter-education efforts such as undertaken by UNAMI and IHEC are best left to those -- namely the political parties -- with the most at-stake. Such a realization will, we believe, auger well for the maturation of democracy in Iraq. End comment. CROCKER