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March 2010: Another Defeat for the Iraqi People

Zaid Al-Ali, 4 March 2010, Niqash

Commentators and observers have described the elections that are due to take place on 7 March 2010 as a watershed moment. They are supposed to be the first to be organised at the national level with genuine competition between parties, and they will supposedly also mark a clear departure from the era of clerical rule that was ushered in under the auspices of the US occupation. Whatever the merits of that analysis, a more important question remains: will the upcoming elections bring about any real change in the lives of ordinary Iraqis? Judging from the manner in which the competing parties are campaigning, the manner in which the issues that matter to Iraqis are being discussed and the actual candidates themselves, the answer is that Iraqis will be soundly defeated in their efforts to bring about genuine change.