Conferees are at one in their idea of attracting all the political forces in the country to these elections. Task No.1 is to inspire a number of Iraqi parties in opposition to take part in elections rather than to boycott them. To this end, some countries suggest postponing elections to a later date. As to Russia, it upholds the date fixed by the Iraqi themselves - January 30.
Asked by reporters at the APEC summit in Chile, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in favour of staging democratic elections in Iraq according to schedule. The quicker Iraq is enabled to decide its destiny on its own, the faster the process of squeezing terrorists out of the country will begin, according to Putin. Russian diplomats believe that the postponement of the election date will upset the entire schedule of Iraqi settlement.
Meanwhile, what matters above all in Iraqi elections is not the date but the way they will be organised. In the opinion of Sergey Lavrov, their results should be recognized not only by the world community but by a majority of the Iraqis. "A setbac k in these elections might result in a rather pernicious aftermath. If people do not feel a real turn for the better and if there is no confidence in the government, national consolidation will also remain a mirage in the desert," said the Russian minister at the Sharm el-Sheikh conference.
These elections also presuppose safety measures for 9,000 polling stations which should evidently be guarded by the Iraqis, not the coalition forces led by the United States. It is only then that opponents of peaceful settlement in Iraq will have no pretext to say that elections were held at the occupants' gunpoint. The American command in Iraq argues however that it is merely 145,000 Iraqi servicemen and policemen that can be trained for the date of January 30. As to official Baghdad, it cites the figure of 270,000 people required for maintaining order on the day of elections. Besides, there are many more technicalities required for the organization of these polls. Thus, if the world community wants to see elections held in Iraq as soon as possible and be a success, a great effort should be taken. Russia has already suggested a joint control mechanism to supervise coming elections and the political process in Iraq as a whole. Whether this mechanism will work or not and what is more important whether it will be enabled to work is a different story. An answer depends on the Iraqi leadership, the USA, Europe and Arab countries. For the time being all the sides concerned are ready to work together despite certain contradictions. That is surely the main achievement of the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.
