Iraqi Elections January 2005

Copyright Stewart Innes 2005 Until Released

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01-25-2005

Northern Iraq's Kurdish stronghold city of Suleimaniya begins preparations for the historic elections of January 30, 2005. Iraqi Kurds are hoping for a strong turnout and a unified election front to win them a strong majority in Iraq's new national government.

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01-26-2005

Election posters from the Iraqi Independent Election Comission urge Iraqi's to "vote for a better future for [their] children".

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Campaign posters dot Suleimaniya's landmarks and vehicles

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01-27-2005

List of Iraqi Kurdish candidates for national and regional elections is published

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Iraqi Kurds in the streets in support of their candidates with Jalal Talabani's the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan emerging as the dominant party

01-28-2005

Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is widely expected to win the Kurdish vote in which case he is expected to be given the Presidency of Iraq.  His posters are posted everywhere in Suleimaniya and selling briskly in the streets of Suleimaniya.

While the rest of Iraq is under dusk-to-dawn curfew, Iraqi Kurds in Suleimaniya party in the streets late into the night in support of their candidates.   The curfew will be imposed the next day and on January 30, which is election day.

01-29-2005

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Kurdish security forces guard a polling station at a school in the northern Iraqi city of Suleimaniya in preparation for the landmark elections of January 30, 2005

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Members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) stand above a huge party banner overlooking ther main arterial road into Suleimaniya. PUK leader Jalal Talabani is widely expected to win the Kurdish vote.

01-30-2005  Election Day

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Large turnout of Iraqi Kurds at polling stations amid intense security measures.  Voters are searched before they join the queue outside the polling stations and again upon entering.

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Kurdish men and women casting their votes at a polling station in central Suleimaniya.

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Iraqi Kurdish voters show off the indelible ink indicating that they have cast their votes. Many said that the ink is a sign that they have achieved freedom from oppression and have gained independence.

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The indelible ink indicating that a person has voted seen on the forefinger of an elderly Iraqi Kurd

Outside the polling station, Iraqi Kurds thumbprint an unofficial referendum on whether the Kurdish north of Iraq should remain a part of Iraq or become an independent state. The overwhelming majority is for the latter.

An elderly Iraqi Kurd tries unsuccessfully to wipe off the indelible ink that indicates he has voted.  There have been some reports of irregularities in voter attendance – mostly put down to ignorance of voting procedures.

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Iraqi Kurd proudly show the indelible ink that indicates they have voted while the queues of voters grow behind them in central Suleimaniya.

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Armed security men watch over and try to keep order among the long lines of voters waiting to enter a polling station in SUleimaniya.  Security during the elections is a major concern throught Iraq.

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Election day seen as a festive occasion with many families attending dressed in their best clothes.

Young girl wearing a badge of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party is hugged by her mother who had just voted in Suleimaniya.

Despite the city wide curfew on movement of vehicles in Suleimaniya, an elderly Iraqi Kurd in a wheelchair took the trouble to cast his vote.

Portraits of Iraq's Kurdish People

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