PRT DIYALA: LOCAL TECHNOCRATS HOPE NATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000186 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM IZ SUBJECT: PRT DIYALA: LOCAL TECHNOCRATS HOPE NATIONAL SECTARIAN PARTIES DON'T WIN PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS Classified By: PRT George White for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) (U) This is a PRT Diyala reporting cable. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a series of meetings about upcoming provincial council (PC) elections with poloff January 19-21, local professionals and government officials in Diyala emphatically denounced incumbent national religious parties and politicians in the province, believing them corrupt and incapable of acting in the public interest. In discussions on upcoming provincial elections with poloff, Sunni, Shi'a, and Kurdish local-level politicians and technocrats uniformly expressed a strong aversion to sectarian candidates for the provincial council (PC); they prefer technocrats who have the skills and commitment to improve basic services and the local economy. Many cited the large number of political entities registered to run in the Diyala elections as a further sign of the public's dislike of incumbent sectarian politicians. While our interlocutors' motivation for condemning large sectarian parties may be self-interested, their remarkable vehemence and the cross ethnic/sectarian unity on this issue could indicate a significant trend in Iraqi politics. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Visiting Poloff met with a number of local government officials and professionals in the Diyala provincial towns of Muqdadiya, Hibhib, and Khalis, as well as Ba'aqubah, the provincial capital, January 19-21. In wide-ranging discussions about preparations for the provincial elections in Diyala, these officials conveyed deep dislike for religious parties in the province. -------------- SECTARIAN PARTIES CONDEMNED -------------- ¶3. (C) Yarob Al Qaysi, the Sunni Arab Mudeer (city manager) of Hibhib, told us in a meeting at his office on January 20 that he dislikes all Islamic political parties: Tawafuq/Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP),Da'wa, and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). He claimed that the people of Hibhib, a nahiya (metropolitan area) of 80,000 (13,000 in the city of Hibhib itself),do not like religious parties, and that people prefer individuals who are running without a party affiliation. He said he thought that specifically IIP, ISCI, and Da'wa politicians would engage in some form of electoral fraud to protect their positions on the PC. He claimed that 50 per cent of people in Hibhib do not want to vote because sectarian parties have disappointed them. ¶4. (C) Najem Abdullah Al Harvey, the Sunni Arab Qaimaqam (mayor) of Muqdadiya, and Shaker Al Aqba, a Shi'a Muqdadiya city council member, agreed in a meeting at the Muqdadiya city council lon January 19 that people don't want sectarian politicians in government anymore. (NOTE: Muqdadiya is the second largest city in Diyala (population 250,000 ). END NOTE.) Shaker contended that people would vote for candidates based on personality or administrative ability more than on religious affiliation. ¶5. (C) Arkan Hussan Abdullah, a Sunni Arab attorney with the Ministry of Electricity in Diyala's provincial capital of Ba'aqubah, declared in a meeting at PRT Diyala January 21 "there is no honesty in the elections in Diyala. IIP and Da'wa have discouraged people, and very few will go to vote." -------------- -- "BIG" PARTIES BENEFITTING UNDULY FROM ELECTIONS -------------- -- ¶6. (C) Salaam Jawad Kazim, the Hibhib City Council Chair and Q6. (C) Salaam Jawad Kazim, the Hibhib City Council Chair and a Shi'a, said in a meeting on January 20 at the Hibhib City Council that he also prefers non-sectarian parties. He added that the provincial elections favor "big" parties such as Tawafuq and Da'wa. He also worried that corruption in Diyala would continue after the elections because the big parties would win a majority of seats again. Asserting that larger parties had stronger financial support * a sign of campaign fraud and corruption, not popularity, he said * he thought that small local parties would lose out because they cannot compete financially. ¶7. (C) Adil Hashimi, a Sunni Arab attorney in Ba'aqubah, echoed this sentiment on January 21 in a meeting at the PRT. He complained that influential political parties have "divided voters' allegiances among themselves," adding that the small parties "have no chance." Adil does not trust the influential parties, and maintained that the smaller, less influential parties cannot compete with them. BAGHDAD 00000186 002 OF 002 -------------- THE PEOPLE WANT TECHNOCRATS -------------- ¶8. (C) Haidar Jowad Abid, the Shi'a interim Qaimaqam of Khalis, a city of 45,000, suggested to poloff in a January 20 meeting at his office in Khalis that people in Khalis are tired of sectarian division, and may not vote for their own tribal sheikhs or sectarian parties who are campaigning. He thinks people will likely vote for whomever they think will improve services in Diyala, regardless of sect or ethnicity. ¶9. (C) Mohammed Jaleel, the Diyala Director for the Ministry of Displaced persons, repeated Haidar's opinion. He said that people wanted technocrats in the PC, rather than religiously-affiliated leaders. He noted that people will no longer necessarily vote by sect or even tribe as they did in 2005*they want leaders who can effectively provide services. He presented himself as an example, saying that he is a Kurd who will vote for a Shi'a candidate (and gave to us the impression he was doing something novel). -------------- NATIONAL PARTIES HAVE TOO MUCH INFLUENCE -------------- ¶10. (C) Amer Latif Mujid is Diyala's Governorate Elections Officer (GEO),the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission's (IHEC) chief representative in the province. A Sunni Arab from Diyala, Amer feared that IHEC was losing its independence due to big national parties interfering in the commission. He noted that officials connected with the Tawafuq, ISCI, Da'wa, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),and Fadhila parties all had positions in IHEC, and each wanted input on all hiring decisions, "down to hiring the janitor." Amer thinks the big parties are endangering IHEC's independence, and that their actions are interfering in its operation rather than balancing and cancelling out each others' interests. -------------- TOO MANY CANDIDATES -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Many of our interlocutors stated that there were too many candidates and political entities running in Diyala. All saw the high number of candidates as complicating and confusing the elections, although some credited the high number to the Sunni's embrace of the 2009 elections and dissatisfaction with incumbent PC members and their predominantly sectarian backgrounds. (NOTE: Of the current 41 PC members in Diyala, 34 align themselves with religious/national parties such as IIP or the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (ISCI/Da'wa). END NOTE.) -------------- COMMENT: AXE-GRINDING OR POLITICAL TREND? -------------- ¶12. (C) These contacts, who are primarily urban, educated people in positions with significant responsibility, may have an inherent bias, and Diyalans more broadly may not fully share their sentiments. Most of these contacts think that the current PC is ineffective at best, and may be associating their own discontent with the incumbents with popular rejection of the religious orientation of the incumbents' parties. They may also have been telling us what they think we want to hear. ¶13. (C) This election will help us assess the validity of our interlocutors' claims that "the people" of Diyala no longer want their politics leavened with religion. Despite our contacts' insistence that religion now plays a less prominent role in public life in Diyala, Ashura flags still line country roads outside Muqdadiya, and snap in the wind Qline country roads outside Muqdadiya, and snap in the wind next to Iraqi national flags outside Ba'aqubah. Large canvas banners of Ali decorate the approach to the Khalis Qaimaqam's office; and campaign posters in the province feature photos of religious leaders. But the intensity and consistency of their opinions--across geographical, confessional, and ethnic backgrounds--suggests that a potentially significant segment of the electorate could transfer its support to parties that would challenge religious and other large national parties. END COMMENT. CROCKER