Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections this March, after politicians in Baghdad overcame the squabbling and heated debates that had long delayed the controversial new election law. Iraqis will find themselves participating in a democratic process which, because of its incorporation of the open-list system (whereby people vote for individuals as opposed to parties), outmatches the elections of 2005, which adopted the closed-list system, and also outmatches the democratic standards of their regional neighbors. The electoral process in Iraq will not be a smooth one. Violence, as ever, will decide the extent to which Iraqis will turn out to cast their votes. Recent security failures indicate that terrorists, suspected to be comprised of extremist Sunnis and jihadists, still remain at large. Their tactics have morphed to meet the challenges posed by a far more confident and assertive Iraqi security force, which can claim some credit for the overall reduction
Dr Ranj Alaaldin is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Doha. He specialises in intrastate conflict, governance and human security issues in the Middle East.
