Baghdad, March 06: The excitement is palpable. For the first time since the fall of Saddam, Iraqi people can sense that there is a real possibility of change within the country.
Baghdad is full of colourful campaign posters and party leaders’ voices are commanding the airwaves. We can’t pretend, however, that these elections have not been marred by corrupt and underhand tactics and a reversion to naked sectarianism. The banning by the Maliki government of more than 500 candidates – including 20 from my party list – for alleged Baathist links has been the most depressing development.
–Agencies