Iraqis rally amid Ayatollah's call for open voting

Hundreds of Iraqis have taken to the streets, demanding an open voting system for January parliamentary elections — a call backed by top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani.

Over 1,000 people attended the rally in Baghdad, the northern city of Kirkuk and the southern port of Basra on Saturday to demonstrate against plans by parliamentarian to pass a controversial closed voting system which does not name candidates standing for office, AFP reported Saturday.

The demonstration held in support of a call by Ayatollah Sistani who may urge the country's majority Shias to boycott the ballot if the closed system is adopted.

A closed list was used in national elections in January 2005, the first to take place since the 2003 US-led invasion.

The protest follows the plan of parliamentarians to adopt a closed voting that would list parties contesting the election without disclosing the individuals vying to take up seats in parliament.

"Seeing the names of candidates is important -- we have to know for whom we are going to vote," said Makki Awad, an Iraqi actor at the demonstration.

Based on the report, several hundred protesters gathered in support of Sistani's stance in central Baghdad, carrying Iraqi flags and placards reading "Closed Lists Strengthen Sectarianism and Racism".

"This demonstration was organized to call for an open list, and to give the people a chance to vote for candidates they know and trust," said Sami Hassan Mussa, a writer and political analyst taking part in the rally.

Around 500 others, including political activists and trade unionists, also gathered in central Basra to voice their opposition to the plans and give their backing to an open list system.

Rallies, held in Kirkuk, Baquba, north of Baghdad, and the southern town of Simawa, were organized by the Iraqi Constitutional Party, which is headed by Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108336§ionid=351020201.