January 02, 2005

Zeyad (a 24 year old Iraqi dentist and blogger from Baghdad)over at Healing Iraq has posted a extremely useful survey of the competing party lists for the Iraqi election.

The article shows how fragmented the scene is (7200 candidates from over 220 political parties and organisations) But it also shows a wide range of democratic parties are competing. Alongside the major Shia and Kurdish lists, and the lists headed by Interim Prime Minster Allawi and Interim President, Ghazi Ajeel Al-Yawar Zeyad, Zeyad also discusses the ‘The Civil Society Organisations Assembly…a coalition comprised of 172 representatives of Iraqi NGO's that were formed after the war (…) The National Democratic Coalition slate, headed by Tawfiq Al-Yassiri, National Council member and the organiser of last December's anti-terrorism marches (…) The Iraqi Communist party has an independent party slate of 275 candidates headed by its general secretary, Hamid Majid Musa (…)The Independent Democratic Trend slate is headed by Aziz Al-Yassiri (…)The Independent Progressive Front slate is headed by Abdul-Karim Al-Rubai'i, a tribal Sheikh from Kut, and is similar to the list above (and) includes former Iraqi football players, Karim Saddam and Laith Hussein (…)The Watani (national) coalition list includes independents and technocrats headed by Dr. Wathab Dawud Al-Sa'di. It includes names such as the former judge Dr. Wathiba Al-Sa'di, the writer Jasim Al-Mutayr, women rights activists Hana Edward and Fawzia Al-Abbasi, and football player Abd Kadhum (…)Dr. Ghassan Al-Attiya, an independent Iraqi politician…heads the Iraqi Independents Bloc. Al-Attiya strongly advocates national dialogue and reconciliation (…)Hameed Al-Kifa'i, Iraqi journalist and former spokesman for the GC, heads the Democratic Community Movement list. It includes Hashim Al-Diwan, commentator of the Iraqi Fayhaa channel (…) (AJ)