tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post9016981858105507113..comments2024-02-29T12:38:32.191-08:00Comments on MUSINGS ON IRAQ: Lessons Learned From 2009 That Apply To The 2010 Iraqi ElectionsJoel Winghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-31111869218114835172010-03-06T13:13:59.913-08:002010-03-06T13:13:59.913-08:00The list system comes from Europe and was adopted ...The list system comes from Europe and was adopted in Iraq because of the United Nations. <br /><br />In 2005 Iraq had a closed list system where voters could only pick from coalitions. I don't remember whether the voting was by province or nationwide however. Each coalition would list their candidates from top to bottom, and whatever percentage they won, that number of candidates starting from the top and going down would get a seat in parliament, i.e. a list got 5 seats, the top 5 candidates would go to parliament. <br /><br />The system works best when you have established parties and well known politicians. For example if that happened in the U.S. and you had a nationwide closed list voting system then the Democrats would have Obama, Biden, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, etc. at the top of their list and you would know your vote would first go to Obama and then on down their list of candidates depending upon how many seats they won. <br /><br />This would work for the Kurds in Iraq because the PUK and KDP have been around for a long time, and ran Kurdistan autonomously since the Gulf War. For the other parties not so since they were all new comers. <br /><br />This year Iraq has an open list system based upon the provinces where you can pick a candidate or list in the governorate that you live in. So for example in Baghdad you could pick Maliki or just vote for State of Law because he is the #1 candidate on the list for that province. <br /><br />As for feeling that a specific politician represents a specific province I don't think Iraq is there yet. After being elected I don't think the public sees their politicians much at all, and they don't even show up to parliament either that much.Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-56295525597539678722010-03-06T10:01:00.699-08:002010-03-06T10:01:00.699-08:00Thanks for the link, Joel.
I'm with you, Don....Thanks for the link, Joel.<br /><br />I'm with you, Don. I don't think I could ever bring myself to vote for a party without knowing who my personal representatives would be. I would feel like my vote was entirely too disconnected from government to have any meaning. You would inevitably be supporting people that got on lists due to nepotism and corruption, and others with whom you disagree. (Imagine, for example, if a vote for John Tanner (my local Dem representative) also helped elect folks like Charlie Wrangle and John Murtha) And there would be no one in government that spoke specifically for your local district.Jasonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-42994312313521680292010-03-06T09:09:15.348-08:002010-03-06T09:09:15.348-08:00Jason,
Here's a rundown of the election law a...Jason,<br /><br />Here's a rundown of the election law and how seats are distributed.<br /><br />http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/elections_2010_law.htmlJoel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-35699309868538063972010-03-06T02:42:26.867-08:002010-03-06T02:42:26.867-08:00I think the party list system is very bad. I no lo...I think the party list system is very bad. I no longer vote in elections for the European Parliament, because I don't want to vote for a party.<br /><br />We should vote for a person who will represent the voters of a district, and not simply be a puppet of some party organisation. A good MP will vote according to his judgement, not as he is told by party bosses.<br /><br />If you have no local MP, who do you go to if you have a problem?Don Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11232752398252841794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-72143630803377197302010-03-05T13:40:42.659-08:002010-03-05T13:40:42.659-08:00To Jason: First I am glad that Iraqis abandoned th...To Jason: First I am glad that Iraqis abandoned the closed list and accepted the open list system as much more transparent and democratic.<br /><br />Since I am from Czech Republic and Europe we are more accustomed to this kind of voting systems.<br />Here is how it works - Voter principally choose a political party but there is an option for him to also choose a most preferable individual candidate within the same party. If one choose only a party, the party gets so many votes as is seats in the distric and these votes go to the candidates according to their number in the candidate list. But if one selects a party and candidates, the individual candidates gets the vote (regardless of the order which they appear on the list). If voter selected less individual candidates than there is seats, the rest of the votes goes to the party candidates according to their number in the candidate list.<br /><br />Sorry for the clumsy explanation...<br />And yes it does protect incumbents. <br /><br />BTW: Great blog, I for examble prefer it before Thomas E. Ricks one.Alex Brattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-14750238377449692672010-03-05T08:09:59.421-08:002010-03-05T08:09:59.421-08:00I love the pre-game speculation as much as anybody...I love the pre-game speculation as much as anybody, but from what I can gather, Iraq is headed into unknown territory. But that also makes it exciting! <br /><br />I do wish Iraq could have completely thrown off this list voting system in favor of districts each voting for their own representatives. How votes will be counted under this new "open list" is even more inexplicable than last time. So you can vote for either a list or for an individual candidate - how do you weight those against each other? Or do you vote twice, first for the list, then for a particular member on the list to determine their ranking? I can't understand it at all, and I'm no slouch. It only makes sense as a system to protect incumbents tied together by crony politics from fresh, new upstarts.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02594232079556508582noreply@blogger.com