Risk and Resolution: Iraq's provincial elections

Risk and Resolution: Iraq's provincial electionsBaghdad - The Iraq of 2009 presents a kaleidoscope of shifting political, ethnic and tribal allegiances that is a few steps from either the beginnings of a stable democratic nation or a return to sectarian slaughter. The provincial council elections of January 31 will be a vital indicator of the direction that the country will take.

Ahead of the polls, the dpa English Services will report with special in-depth coverage from Iraq, in a package scheduled to run on Tuesday, January 27 at 0500 GMT.

dpa's package will show how politics can be conducted in circumstances, where former insurgents are now running for a provincial council seat. The precarious position of minorities will also be examined as the country goes to the polls. Minorities have paid perhaps the heaviest price in Iraq's sectarian upheaval - can they now be integrated into a democratic system?

Previous power-brokers stand to lose if free and fair elections take place, for instance in provinces such as Mosul. Will violence flare as a result? dpa looks at the province in-depth.

dpa correspondents also highlight how candidates manage their campaigns amidst the threat of violence. Women candidates, promoted by the new election system, are making a stand in a previously male- dominated polity.

More than five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's enforced secularism in Iraq, the role of religion in politics is still in flux. Yet Islamist parties are being challenged now on their record, not on their relationship to religion. dpa is taking stock of this development.

Finally, the package will look at the role of Iraq's neighbours in promoting stability and also ask how relations are bound to evolve with the US, the country that brought the war to Iraq. (dpa)

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