Sadr's Subtle Defiance of "Demonstration Elections" in Iraq

The January 30, 2005 elections in Iraq are the textbook definition of "demonstration elections." Unlike Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who issued "a fatwa saying all Shiia men and women have an obligation to vote in the upcoming election," the Moktada al-Sadr faction "uttered not a single word about the vote" at Friday Prayers, according to the New York Times, foreshadowing "a less than overwhelming voter turnout in many parts of Iraq" (Dexter Filkins, "Shiite Faction Ready to Shun Sunday's Election in Iraq," January 29, 2005). The Times insinuates that the Sadr faction are against democracy itself, solely by virtue of their quiet refusal to browbeat their vast following into embracing the elections tomorrow. Needless to say, the idea that it is people's right to evaluate whether or not an election is free, fair, and democratic and that boycotting an unfree, unfair, and undemocratic election is a time-honored tactic of democrats everywhere is unspeakable in the corporate media.

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