Demokrati for alvor

Irakisk politik er befængt med trusler, så det er ikke til at vide, om man skal tage det her alvorligt:

Anbar province, Iraq's vast western third, was once the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency against U.S. troops but is now largely quiet, thanks to tribal guard units known as Awakening councils that helped drive out al Qaeda militants.

In one of the toughest-fought contests of the election, the tribes have challenged the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), a Sunni religious party which has run the province since 2005.

With the IIP claiming the results will keep it in power, Awakening leaders alleged fraud in the voting.

"We threatened the electoral commission not to allow fraud. We said we will transform from a political entity to an armed wing against the electoral commission and the IIP because we discovered fraud," Awakening movement head Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha told Reuters.

Hamid al-Hais, head of the Anbar Tribes list in the election, travelled to Baghdad to lodge a protest.

"We will set the streets of Ramadi ablaze if the Islamic Party is declared the winners of the election," he told Reuters, referring to Anbar's provincial capital. "We will make Anbar a grave for the Islamic Party and its agents. We will start a tribal war against them and those who cooperate with them."

Vækkelsesrådene, eller stammerådene, eller hvad fanden man skal kalde dem nutildags, lagde våbnene mod at få politisk magt og formel politisk repræsentation gennem ikke-voldelige midler (ikke nødvendigvis lovlige midler...). Hvis IIP virkeligt har taget det meste af Anbar i lokalvalget, så er rådene blevet snydt, så vandet driver. Det vil til gengæld skyde den politisk proces i stykker, og rådene vil reelt ikke have andet at gøre end at gribe til våben igen, hvis de vil have det, de mener at have ret til. Gennem systemet eller uden om; de vil til fadet.

Indtil videre er der ingen officielle resultater, og al den røg og damp er sandsynligvis intet andet end propaganda, der skal massere befolkningen til at acceptere de valgsejre, der vil blive annonceret med pomp og pragt senere på ugen, skyder jeg på.

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Og dér!

Iraq's military clamped a vehicle ban Monday on the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar after tribal sheiks sent gunmen into the streets claiming Sunni rivals linked to the Shiite-led government stole votes in last weekend's elections.

Jeg går ud fra, at de mange soldater, der skulle holde vagt på valgdagen, stadig er på plads.