.Top Iraq cleric urges people to vote in provincial poll
KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq's supreme Shiite religious authority Ali Husseini al-Sistani called on Iraqis on Friday to make sure they vote in provincial elections in January.
"If you vote then you are right 100 percent because participating in the elections and voting is a process that creates a country," Ahmad al-Safi, Sistani's representative in Karbala told worshippers at Friday prayers.
But Safi said that Sistani was not throwing his support behind any candidates or electoral lists ahead of provincial elections scheduled for January 31 in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
"The Marjaia is keeping his opinion about the elections to himself, he does not support any list... or any candidates," Safi said.
The Marjaia, represented by Sistani, the highest religious authority in the country, consists of four deeply respected ayatollahs who live in the holy city of Najaf.
In January 2005, during the parliamentary elections, Sistani gave his blessing to the list of the United Iraqi Alliance led by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.
He also pressured the Americans to expedite the path to democratic elections in 2004 and was a guiding force behind the creation of the powerful Shiite coalition in parliament.
AFP
Let hope he does not disqualify any either like he did last time, telling the faithful to vote for the big parties...
And something has to be done about those ballots with 2400 candidates..ever heard of primaries?
"If you vote then you are right 100 percent because participating in the elections and voting is a process that creates a country," Ahmad al-Safi, Sistani's representative in Karbala told worshippers at Friday prayers.
But Safi said that Sistani was not throwing his support behind any candidates or electoral lists ahead of provincial elections scheduled for January 31 in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
"The Marjaia is keeping his opinion about the elections to himself, he does not support any list... or any candidates," Safi said.
The Marjaia, represented by Sistani, the highest religious authority in the country, consists of four deeply respected ayatollahs who live in the holy city of Najaf.
In January 2005, during the parliamentary elections, Sistani gave his blessing to the list of the United Iraqi Alliance led by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.
He also pressured the Americans to expedite the path to democratic elections in 2004 and was a guiding force behind the creation of the powerful Shiite coalition in parliament.
AFP
Let hope he does not disqualify any either like he did last time, telling the faithful to vote for the big parties...
And something has to be done about those ballots with 2400 candidates..ever heard of primaries?
posted by madtom at 7:36 PM
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