Marjaiyah rejects election delay; Govt, US determined to keep date

By: Ismail Zabeeh

HOLY CITY OF NAJAF, Iraq: As Holy Najaf Marjaiyah said that delaying the Iraqi general elections scheduled for January 30 would be “unacceptable”, Iraq's electoral commission ruled out delay, while the Iraqi government as well as the United States said they were determined to hold the landmark elections as planned.

Speaking at a news conference on Saturday evening in the holy city of Najaf, son of the one of four Marajay of Holy Najaf Ayatullah Sayyed Muhammad Said Al-Hakim and their spokesman, Muhammad Hussein Al-Hakim said: “The Maraja’iyah (highest religious authority) think a postponement of the elections would be unacceptable.”

“The date of the elections can no longer be questioned, the issue has been decided,” said the spokesman.

He said he was speaking in the name of all four leaders of the Marja’iyah, which includes Ayatullah Sheikh Ishaq Fayyaz, Ayatullah Ali As-Sistani, Ayatullah Sayyed Muhammad Said Al-Hakim and Ayatullah Sheikh Hafiz Bashir An-Najafi.

“This is nonnegotiable,” Al-Hakim said. “The elections have become part of the daily lives of Iraqis… I don't think the United Nations will agree to change the date because it was the one that set it, and any delay would hurt its repute. We have already reached advanced stages.”

He said elections were “the most legitimate way on the international level to express the will of the people” and that “all parties have agreed on this date and we cannot take back this position for any reason.”

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's spokesman said Saturday the government was determined to hold the elections on time despite calls by some politicians to delay the balloting for six months because of deteriorating security.

Meanwhile Iraq's election commission denied reports that it said it would consider a call to delay the January vote because of violence gripping the country. The head of the commission says he is not empowered to delay the country's elections as demanded by some political parties.

15 political parties, groups and politicians urged the government Friday to postpone the elections for six months to enable the authorities to secure polling stations.

However, the interim constitution and the UN Security Council have mandated a ballot by the end of January to meet demands by religious leaders of the majority Shiite community, which has been insisting on elections since the early months of the US military presence.

A group of 42 parties and politicians declared their opposition Saturday to any delay in the election.

“The Iraqi government is determined, as I told you before, to hold elections on time,” said Allawi's spokesman, Thair An-Naqeeb. “The Iraqi government led by the prime minister is calling for all spectra of the Iraqi people to participate in the elections and to contribute in the elections to build a strong democratic country.”

An-Naqeeb said that boycotts do not serve “the country or the future of Iraq and we hope that there won't be any boycott from any party whatsoever.”

He denied that Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party joined in calling for a delay, although he confirmed that a member was present at a Friday meeting in which other groups issued the call.

In Baghdad, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Republic in Iraq, or SCIRI, led by Sayyed Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim – son of grand Marjay of Shiite World Ayatullah Sayyed Mohsin Al-Hakim (late) - said 42 parties and individuals agreed on a statement affirming support for Jan. 30 elections.

In the holy city of Karbala, hundreds of clerics, scholars of Al-Hawzah Al-Ilmiyah and representatives of Ayaat under the umbrella of “Rabta Ulema-eddin Fee Al-Iraq” (Association of Religious Scholars in Iraq) have also warned against delaying the scheduled January 30 elections.

In another development, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said at a news conference in Moscow that his country would assist Iraq in organizing its first post-Saddam election, set for January 30.

Russia was an initiator of the international conference on Iraq that took place in the Egyptian resort of Sharm Ash-Sheikh last week, Yakovenko noted. “The Sharm Ash-Sheikh conference gave fresh momentum to international efforts to assist the Iraqis,” he said.

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