Iraq’s resilient civil society played key election role

The significant role played by democratic and civil society groups in ensuring Iraq’s provincial elections passed relatively smoothly is only now becoming clear. The February poll saw little violence and registered gains by non-sectarian secular forces as voters turned against religious parties widely perceived as corrupt and incompetent.

Grantees of the National Endowment for Democracy, located across 16 provinces, conducted election monitoring and get-out-the-vote campaigns, working through the Tamouz, Shams and Iraqi Election Information networks. Many activists were working in areas that remain conflict-torn and sporadically violent, including Diyala, Mosul, Al Anbar, Salah Eddine, and Kirkuk.

Two grantees and leading women’s activists – Liza Hido, the president of the Baghdad Women’s Association and Zainab Sadiq, the president of Almustakbal, ran for office – in vain, this time around. Grantees engaged in monitoring were also featured on news media including, Aljazeera TV, Radio Sawa, and Alhurra TV.

The Alnour Universal Institute for Education played a leading role in Diyala, while the Iraqi Social Education Team monitored polling stations in the Karakh and Rosafa districts of Baghdad.

The Altahreer organization led monitoring efforts in Ninewah province, including hot spots like Mosul and Zamar.  The Hammurabi Human Rights and Democracy group spearheaded monitoring in Salah Eddine, Democracy and Social Support led in Kirkuk, while Iraqi Human Rights Watch covered monitoring in some districts across Karbala.