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Iraq votes in local election

31 January 2009 09:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baghdad-APA. Iraqis were voting in provincial elections on Saturday in a crucial test for a nation struggling to emerge from years of sectarian strife and strengthen its fledgling democracy, AFP reports.
Security for Iraqâ€™s first ballot since 2005 was extremely tight with Iraqi police and military deployed in strength as part of ramped-up measures aimed at preventing militant attacks.
About 15 million eligible Iraqis have been called to cast ballots in 14 of 18 provinces at thousands of voting centres in Iraq that opened at 7 am (0400 GMT) and will close at 5 pm (1400 GMT).
Saturdayâ€™s election is seen as a key test of Iraqâ€™s steadily improving stability and political system as US President Barack Obama looks to redeploy American troops to Afghanistan.
"Obviously the president will watch the results, and believes that the provincial elections this weekend mark another significant milestone in Iraqâ€™s democratic development," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Friday.
Ahead of the vote, authorities sealed Iraqâ€™s borders, shut down airports and imposed transport bans and night-time curfews as part of the massive security lockdown for the election.
State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said observers from the US embassy in Baghdad as well as reconstruction teams composed of US civilians will help monitor the elections.
"Our hopes are that basically the Iraqis have a free, fair, transparent election, free of violence," Wood told reporters.
The United Nations and Iraqâ€™s Independent High Election Commission is organising the elections, with 800 international observers expected to oversee the balloting.
More than 14,400 candidates are standing for 440 seats in councils, which appoint the provincial governor and oversee finance and reconstruction, with a combined budget of 2.5 billion dollars.
Sunni Arabs are expected to turn out in large numbers in a reversal of the January 2005 parliamentary elections they boycotted, then still angry about the US-led invasion to depose Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
The vote is also being seen as a quasi referendum on the leadership of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.