Iraqi Democracy-That dream starts with the election

Voting fever takes hold of a people finally free to choose
Richard Beeston/Times (UK) Original Article

FOR decades, voting in Iraq meant taking part in a national exercise of state-enforced adulation, as 99 per cent of the electorate would dutifully turn out to tick the box beside the name Saddam Hussein. Yesterday the contrast could not have been starker, as the campaign for Sunday’s elections picked up pace and voters were presented with a dizzying selection of dozens of candidates and parties.