Syria Today | A Vote of No Confidence

A Vote of No Confidence

By Julian Barnes-Dacey
Photo Syria Today staff

Iraqi refugees living in Syria say they do not hold out great hope that upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq will make a significant difference to their lives.
Most Iraqis living in Syria appear largely disinterested in the vote, despite the fact that the status of refugee voters became a key election issue last November when Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi vetoed the country’s election law on the grounds that it had not given refugees enough seats in the next parliament.

“What difference will the election make to me?” Ayad Hussein, a 28-year-old refugee from Baghdad now living in Saida Zeinab, a Damascus suburb largely populated by Iraqi refugees, asked. “I’ve been here for three years and the Iraqi government has done nothing for me.”

Iraq’s parliamentary elections, the first since 2005, were scheduled for January, but have been delayed until March 7 following squabbling between Iraqi politicians over the content of the election law. Fierce election debate has dominated the Iraqi political agenda over the last few months.

In the 2005 elections Iraqis abroad were able to vote under the supervision of the International Organization for Migration. However, turnout was very low. Different procedures will be followed in 2010 according to the details set by the new election law.

Election law not ratified

Across Saida Zeinab today – infused with Iraqi life though it is – there is little evidence that an election is drawing near or that refugees are interested in their right to vote. Indeed, the only election material on display relates to the ballot for the Damascus Chamber of Commerce.

In part this is because Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), which experienced delays in fixing the election date and regulations. Once details are finalised, election momentum may well grow among the refugee population, Iraq’s largest refugee community.

Yet a large number of Iraqi analysts and voters say they just do not care.

“Not even 10 percent of refugees will vote because of their dissatisfaction with the political process,” Fadel al-Rubaie, an Iraqi political analyst living in Syria, said. “Today Iraqi refugees feel change is hopeless. They voted in 2005 and it made no difference.”

According to Rubaie, the blame lies with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for presiding over a corrupt and dysfunctional government. Additionally, many refugees complain that Maliki has treated Iraqis who have refused to return home with disdain, accusing them of supporting anti-government forces.

Lack of trust

Syria’s Iraqi refugee population remains deeply cynical of their homeland’s election process and is wary of politicians who claim to protect its interests. Hashimi’s attempt to increase the proportion of refugee seats in parliament from 5 to 15 percent is widely viewed as a self-serving political stunt to bolster the Sunni vote – a majority of refugees are Sunni – rather than to genuinely secure refugee rights.

“Hashimi doesn’t care about me and my rights,” Hussein said. Many refugees believe that the election will only be used by the incumbent political elites to secure their own positions. “The politicians are just looking out for their own interests.”

Despite the significance given to the refugee vote in recent months, few voices from the Iraqi community in exile have actually engaged in this debate.

In the face of such pessimism, refugee voices declaring their support for the electoral process are few and far between. Yahya Mohammed Rashid, a Kurdish-Iraqi refugee from Baghdad, is one exception to this rule. He has decided to stand for a parliamentary seat in Baghdad and plans to return to Iraq shortly to campaign.

“If refugees have the opportunity to participate in the election, all of them will vote,” he said, with a rare note of optimism. “At the end of the day they are Iraqi citizens and they will return one day, so they want a voice in the political process.”

Wandering the streets of Damascus’s refugee suburbs, however, it is hard to find many voices in agreement with Rashid. The few that do express a desire to vote quickly clarify that they will be voting against Maliki.

Logistical problems

While the debate over refugee interests is growing more intense as the election draws near, logistical complications could well prevent Iraqis in Syria from getting to the ballot box.

At the moment neither the Syrian government nor Iraqi authorities have indicated if and how they plan to allow refugees to vote. With an alleged 1.2 million refugees living in the country, the physical and bureaucratic challenge will be formidable.

Moreover, in the continued absence of a clear refugee census, it may be difficult to ensure that refugees can vote as constituents in their home province, which is a requirement of the latest draft election law. There are also fears that many of the refugees who regularly travel back and forth to Iraq could vote more than once.

The IHEC has not yet said how it plans to organise the vote abroad and the Iraqi embassy in Damascus was not available for comment.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), one of the few bodies with information about and access to the refugee community, says it could offer assistance, but only if it was requested by Syrian and Iraqi authorities.

“Given the appropriate conditions, UNHCR may be willing to facilitate voting by Iraqi refugees registered in Syria, as we have done in other refugee situations in the past, such as in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Farah Dakhlallah, spokesperson for the UNHCR in Syria, said. “If UNHCR were to assist, I expect it would be mainly a logistical contribution: helping refugees cast their votes, or disseminating information to them about the elections.”

But even here, in terms of logistical procedures, election pessimism is strong and the process faces heavy criticism from refugees.

“It will not be a clean and honest process,” Muayed Abdul-Kader, the Damascus-based editor of the pro-insurgency Al-Sawt newspaper, said. “All Iraqi refugees are sure of this.”