Word: baghdad
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Mohammad al-Rubeiy, dressed in a smart black suit and black tie, holding an armful of campaign posters, is feeling optimistic. He is campaigning vigorously to win a seat on Baghdad's provincial council on Jan. 31, when millions of Iraqis are expected to cast their votes in 14 of Iraq's provinces. He has passed out personal campaign cards, posters and mini pocket calendars with his name printed on them. He even hopes to hold an outdoor political debate with his opponents - the first in Iraq that he knows of. Says al-Rubeiy: "I got the idea from Obama...
...last election, there were alliances. Most of those alliances have fractured, and each one now has its own list," says Iman al-Barazenchi, an Iraqi National Accord candidate for the Baghdad provincial council. Secular candidates say disillusionment with the legacy of those blocs is also creating a shift toward a more nonsectarian type of politics. "The Islamic party and the Islamic movements are retreating from the Iraqi streets. The Iraqi streets are becoming non-Sunni and non-Shi'ite," says another secular candidate, Nebras al-Ma'mouri. "Voters are looking for people outside of these things...
...Sunni and Shi'ite communities over the past year for taking a hard stance in negotiations over the new U.S.-Iraqi security pact and for playing tough with both Shi'ite and Sunni insurgents. "I'll vote for Maliki's party," says Rafaat Khalid Ahmed, a university lecturer in Baghdad's predominantly Sunni Mansour district. "He showed courage in dealing with the major issues in Iraq, and that helped him defeat the militias and al-Qaeda on both sides...
Some Iraqis remain even more skeptical. "I don't want to vote. We haven't gained anything from the previous councils or the previous elections," says Ehsan Sadiq, owner of a grocery store in Baghdad's Harithiya district. "I have to tell you simply that over the past four years, I've grown not to trust anyone." Iraqi and U.S. officials say voter turnout is likely to be very high, with fewer groups boycotting the vote than in 2005. But voices like Sadiq's are not uncommon...
...With reporting by Mazin Ezzat / Baghdad...