Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Iraq Militias Push Voter Sign-Up

WaPo reports Two major armed factions opposed to Iraq's still unfinished constitution on Sunday ordered their followers to register for an upcoming vote on the new charter, with one faction urging a vote against it and the other telling supporters to wait for further orders.

I am not really happy that armed factions are doing it, but registering to vote is much better than shooting people.
"Rejecting the constitution will defeat the American plan in Iraq," Ansar al-Sunna, the most prominent Sunni insurgent movement to join the call for voter registration, said in a statement. Voting amounts to "jihad against the Americans," it said.
Political parties say what ever they think will get people to vote the way they want. Just look at some of the outrageous claims the Dems make each election cycle.
The rebellious Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, who leads the other faction, told his followers to register ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline but to "wait for our order to come later on whether to vote or not." Sadr issued his statement after residents of the Shiite holy city of Najaf asked what they should do. Many Sunnis, including moderates, oppose provisions in the draft constitution that could allow a strong Shiite federal state in the southern part of the country. A mobilization of Sadr's followers against the document could lead to its defeat. If two-thirds of voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject the charter, the constitution will fail.
The Sunnis shot themselves in the foot by not voting in the last election. It is interesting the Moqtada Sadr did not learn that.

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