Voices of the Awakening: Focus on Upcoming Provincial Elections

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today FDD's Center for Terrorism Research brings you the fourth installment of our Voices of the Awakening series, authored by Sterling Jensen. The series is designed to provide Westerners a better understanding of ongoing developments in Iraq's Awakening movement. This regular feature includes critical translations of Awakening news and documents, Jensen's observations and analysis, and occasional interviews with the movement's leaders.

This week the Iraqi Awakening's reporting focused on two main issues related to the upcoming provincial elections: the Awakening's relationship with the Government of Iraq (GOI), and leadership principles that should guide a new democratic Iraq. An excerpt:

In three separate reports, the Iraqi Awakening clarifies its relationship with the GOI. First, in "The Iraqi Awakening: an Objective Position," the Awakening differentiates itself from the Sons of Iraq program. It states that while those in the program have not been adequately treated by Iraqi politicians, the Sons of Iraq program is not the same as the Iraqi Awakening. The Iraqi Awakening grew out of the Anbar Awakening, where it played an important role in strengthening the Iraqi army, police, and security agencies. It is not a group of militias, as some Iraqi politicians have claimed. Only the Iraqi Security Forces are in charge of security, and not extrajudicial armed groups. The Iraqi Awakening is a registered political party and encourages political participation....

In a second article entitled "The Awakening: Deserving the Vote," the Iraqi Awakening explains to voters why it believes it deserves their vote. It says that the Awakening will be one of the many parties participating in the upcoming provincial elections, elections that they hope will be fair and transparent for all parties or individuals running. A rhetorical question is asked: "who made not only Anbar secure, but all of Iraq?" The answer: "The sons of the tribes as represented in the Iraqi Awakening. The Iraqi Awakening should not be regarded only as an organization that became a political party, but rather as the essence of those who stood up against injustice and brought back life, law, and institutions. Parties should join the list with the Iraqi Awakening because had the Awakening not brought back life and security, there would be no elections for everyone to compete in." ....

INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE: While the details of the upcoming elections are still not set, the Iraqi Awakening has started its campaign to solicit voters. The Awakening in Anbar has regular tribal leader visits not only from Sunnis from Baghdad, Salahideen or Diyala, but also regular visits from Shia tribal leaders from Southern Iraq. Arab tribes and former regime elements are the Iraqi Awakening's targeted base. They believe that combining a strong traditional Iraqi identity with educated nationalist technocrats will transcend sectarian lines, and resonate with voters. The Iraqi Awakening leadership is convinced that the political parties running Iraq are heavily influenced by regional interests and not Iraqi interests. More importantly, however, the Awakening believes that change will come through political reform, and not by violence. For the Iraqi Awakening, it is paramount that the coming elections be fair and without regional influence. These themes are often repeated in the Awakening's reporting.

For the entire Voices of the Awakening update, click here. Tomorrow Jensen will provide analysis of the recent media reports about infighting within the Awakening movement, such as this article that was noted in the CT Blog's Newslinks.

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