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

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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