180,000 Iraqis in Jordan set to vote in election

Around 180,000 eligible Iraqi voters are expected to cast their ballots in Jordan as part of global out-of-country voting in the March 7 poll, Iraq's electoral commission said on Tuesday.

"About 180,000 Iraqis in Jordan are expected to vote on March 5, 6 and 7 at 16 polling stations," Nehad Abbas, head of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in Jordan, told a news conference.

"Eleven stations will open in Amman, two in Zarqa, two in Irbid and one in Madaba," he added, and urged Iraqis in Jordan to vote "even if they were living there illegally."

"Those who wish to vote should not change their minds and be afraid if they see security officials and policemen around the voting centers. The police are there to protect the centers and will not ask anybody about residency permits."

Abbas said the electoral process would be transparent. "Journalists and representatives of civil society organizations have been invited to monitor the voting."

The number of Iraqis currently in Jordan is contested. King Abdullah II said last month that the government estimates them to be around 500,000.

But Baghdad's ambassador to Amman, Saad Hayyani, has said official Jordanian figures indicate between 400,000 and 450,000 Iraqis live in the kingdom, adding that "we think they are around 300,000."

According to the United Nations, around 1.5 million Iraqis have sought refuge in Syria and about half a million in Jordan since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The general election will be Iraq's second since now-executed former president Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.

The election is seen as key to consolidating Iraq's fledgling democracy and ensuring a smooth exit of U.S. combat troops by August ahead of a complete American military withdrawal by the end of 2011.


Meanwhile, fewer Iraqis will cast their ballots in the March 7 general elections, specifically about two thirds of those who voted in the last polls five years ago, according to a pro-government poll on Tuesday.

The survey carried out by the National Media Centre linked to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki indicated that 63 percent of registered voters will go the polls compared to 79.63 percent who voted in 2005.

The poll was conducted in the first two weeks of February among a cross-section of 5,000 Iraqis in the country's 18 provinces, with 53 percent men interviewed and 47 percent women.

According to the survey, more voters will go to the polls in the Kurdish and Shiite areas than in Sunni Muslim regions. An overall 83 percent is expected in the Kurdish province of Dohuk, 73 percent in the Shiite province of Dhi Qar and 46.6 percent in the Sunni province of Anbar.

Less than one percent of voters cast their ballot in Anbar at the last election because of a Sunni boycott.

Eighteen percent of those interviewed said they did not want to take part in the vote because of concern over a lack of transparency in the election, while 16 percent said they had no faith in the candidates.

Of those who said they will vote, 17 percent insisted it was a national duty while 11 percent expected their ballot will influence the future of the country.

Only 10 percent said they trusted the candidates. Others gave no reason for casting their ballot.

The election, the second parliamentary ballot since Saddam was toppled, is seen as a test of reconciliation between the population's Sunni minority and the Shiite majority now represented by Maliki's government.

Around 19 million people have the right to vote, including 1.4 million citizens living in 16 countries abroad, according to election organizers.
Al Arabiya