Go on with your messages of pessimism. The people on the ground in Iraq are reporting a different story than our U.S. Democrats in their ivory towers.
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U.N. Expert Calls Iraq Election Moving
By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - Abandoning diplomatic circumspection, the top U.N. electoral expert on Tuesday praised the vote in Iraq (news - web sites) as one of the most moving she had ever seen.
Carina Perelli, who has helped advise on dozens of elections from East Timor (news - web sites) to the Palestinian territories, called the Jan. 30 election a "dignified, peaceful demonstration" of Iraqis' will.
About 40 people were killed but she told a news conference it had been a feat that no polling station was closed for the day because of security fears.
"I have participated in many elections in my life and I usually say that the day you lose your ability to be moved by people going to vote, you should change your career," said Perelli, who had insisted for months that U.N. advisers would leave pronouncements on the election to Iraq's electoral commission. "This was probably one of the most moving elections I have ever seen."
Perelli said she knew the process was going well when she was given a report on election day that there were long lines at polling stations in Mosul, a city that has seen some of the worst violence in Iraq recently.
"It is, I think, a message for all of us that beyond our discussions, beyond our diagnosis, beyond our expertise, normal people have something to say about their destiny," she said of the vote. "In that sense, I think it was an extremely moving and good election."
Perelli said it was too early to discuss turnout or results. The ballots are being counted in Baghdad and officials have not said when final results will be made public.
Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie also praised the vote.
"We have moved forward collectively as a nation," he said. "We've marked the beginning of a new era, and there is a sense of achievement." |
