Less than two years after the United States’ initial attack on Iraq, millions of Iraqi voters flooded polling sites Sunday to cast their vote in the country’s first free election in decades.
In a press conference, President Bush declared the election as a “resounding success” after a better-than-expected voter turnout. However, results in the landmark elections were expected to take up to 10 days to process, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. As of press time, there was no definitive leader.
While President Bush declared the election a success, others felt that it was just the beginning of a more complicated process.
“This is a first step toward democracy in Iraq,” said Dr. John Orman, a politics professor at Fairfield University. “We now need a winner declared, a government organized, a constitution drafted and accepted, security restored and American troops brought home.”
“I think the election was a move in the right direction, but I’m not sure how democratic it was,” said Alejandro Hernandez ’07. “I think there’s no doubt that we’re still running the show.
“I think the Iraqi elections were very successful,” said Grace Bermudez ’05. “There weren’t as many attacks on polling sites as some had anticipated. It was the first democratic election in Iraq’s history. That’s huge.”
Insurgents struck polling stations throughout the country, killing at least 44 people, including nine suicide bombers. Still, according to the U.S. State Department, 5,171 polling centers – 98.8 percent of the 5,232 that were expected to open – actually did so.
Iraqis across the country defied the threats of insurgent violence to cast their votes. Of Iraq’s 14 million eligible voters, about 61 percent cast their ballots according to Aljazeera’s website.
However, voter turnout was highest among the Shi’ite and Kurdish populations and was particularly high in Sunni dominated cities, such as Fallujah and Samarra.
After the results of the election are definitive, the 275-seat Iraqi National Assembly will be formed by proportional representation. It will then choose a transitional government and draft a permanent constitution that will face national referendum by Oct. 15 of this year.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen if the election is a success, if democracy will be brought to Iraq.
“The message from President Bush’s inaugural address and from his action is that you must have democratic election in your country or we will make you have them by military force,” said Orman.
“There are probably about 100 dictatorial, tyrannical regimes left in the world. Our new policy is you better have a democracy or we will kill you,” Orman added. “That can be a very costly foreign policy. What country is next?”
According to one student, the election just marks the beginning of a long road ahead for the United State’s involvement in Iraq.
“This isn’t the end of something. This is just the beginning of all of the work,” said Hernandez. “We have to see this through.”
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