Iraq Election – Viewed From Basra, and Dubai

BASRA, Iraq–After the polls closed Sunday evening my brother Othello called me from Dubai, where he lives.

In the background, I could hear the music and laughter of a party. My brother told me they were celebrating the success of the Iraqi election. He said he wanted Ayad Allawi to win, but it seemed not to matter that much.
“You cannot imagine how happy we are, I wish that we could be together to celebrate,” he said, as people cheered in agreement behind him.

Yesterday, Iraqis tasted democracy, and they couldn’t help but congratulate themselves for holding an election on their own and deciding for themselves who would lead them into the future.

NYT
In Basra, thousands of people voted without violence. The only soldiers or police in sight were Iraqi. There were even Iraqi helicopters in the sky, the first time many people had seen that.

Just minutes after the polling centers closed at 5 p.m., people came out of their homes to celebrate in the warm night air. They danced in the street and inside cars, their heads and torsos poking up through sun roofs.

“We are the men of chivalry, we can turn the wheel of the whole world,” they sang the words to an election song that is popular now.

During the past week, the city saw dozens of cars driven in caravans with posters of favored candidates attached to the hood and trunk.

But last night, none of the cars carried candidate posters, only Iraqi flags.

“We do not care who will win, as long as he will serve the people,” said Ali, 22, his body sticking out of the sun roof as the car drove down one of Basra’s main streets.

This was not the first democratic election in Iraq, but it felt like the first election when we finally achieved independence.
NYT