Iraqi Islamists prepare provincial elections campaign

Citizens’ Coalition candidates want to see a ‘social safety net’ in Iraq Baghdad – Jaafar Al Nasrawi Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supereme Council of Iraq (ISCI), has announced the launch of a new electoral coalition ahead of provincial elections in April. The ISCI leader announced the formation of the Citizens’ Coalition at a conference in Baghdad on Saturday.
“We would like to inform the citizens about the announcement of the Citizen Coalition which will be devoted for serving the interests of the Iraqi people,” he said.
Speaking at a rally at ISCI offices in central Baghdad, al-Hakim said the election campaign would focus on securing better services for Iraqi citizens, as well as amending national laws.
The Coalition’s Wasit province candidate told Arabstoday the burgeoning group included a number of different alliances, including ones fronted by Iraqi National Congress chief Ahmed al-Jalabi and head of the Bada’ana (We Started) Movement, Jawad al-Bolani.
Development programmes in areas like housing and sanitation would be central to the campaign, the candidate said.
Baghdad candidate Zeinab Khalil also told Arabstoday the Citizens’ Coalition would push to help vulnerable citizens in Iraq.
"My work centres around creating a social safety net for women, the disabled and orphaned children, as well as pushing women’s education and rights,” Khalil said.
Infrastructure development would be key to her campaign in the run-up to April elections, she added.
The Citizens’ Coalition is currently urging members of the public to head to the polls.
“Your ballot represents your faith in the political system and signals victory for the will of the people,” al-Hakim said.
The ISCI leader meanwhile thanked new coalition members for their participation in protests sweeping Iraq’s western provinces.
"This is and will continue to be their constitutional right so long as their movement remains within legal and constitutional boundaries," he said.
However, al-Hakim was keen to stress the importance of national unity as sectarian violence continues to spread across the country, sparking fears of a return to the bloody aftermath of the US occupation.
“Talk about Iraqi unity and abandon sectarianism,” al-Hakim told supporters in Baghdad.
Provincial election campaigns were formally launched on March 1, ahead of elections currently slated for April 20.
Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has claimed 139 political groups, fielding 8,275 candidates, have already registered for the upcoming elections.