This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000157 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/27/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PTER IZ
SUBJECT: HOW THE 731 COALITION LOST THE SOUTH 
 
REF: BASRAH 146 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah, 
Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  On December 26, the Basrah Regional 
Coordinator met with Gali Najm Muter, the Iraqi National Accord 
(731) representative in Basrah.  Gali attributed the poor 
showing of 731 in Basrah and the other southern provinces in the 
December 15 election to intimidation campaigns run by the 
Unified Iraqi Coalition (555) and election fraud.  He urged the 
REO to come up with funds to counter "Iranian influence" in the 
south.  The real reason why voters in the southern provinces 
voted for 555 over 731 was most likely because they believed 
that the 731 list's political parties had incompatible 
platforms.  End Summary. 
 
Shocked at the Results 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  On December 26, the Basrah Regional Coordinator met 
with Gali Najm Muter, the Iraqi National Accord (731 List) 
representative in Basrah and discussed the results of the 
December 15 election, in which Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National 
Accord (731) party won only two of Basrah's sixteen seats in the 
National Assembly.  Gali said that he and his party were 
"shocked" at the results, and that prior to the election he 
believed that 731 would win five or more seats.  The Iraqi 
National Accord party had been active in Basrah for over two 
years, he said, and had four seats on the Basrah Provincial 
Council.  "We were doing just fine until December 15," he said. 
 
Why 731 Lost 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Gali said that the intimidation campaigns run by 555 
opponents prior to the election had impacted his party's ability 
to campaign effectively (see reftel).  Posters had been the 
primary way that most political parties in Basrah campaigned for 
the election, and many of 731's posters were torn down in the 
period before the election.  Moreover, several people in Basrah 
were shot and killed while hanging up 731 posters, resulting in 
people being afraid to campaign. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Fraud and illegal campaigning on election day also 
affected the outcome of the vote, according to Gali.  He said 
that he had personally observed campaigning for 555 going on 
near polling centers in Basrah and knew people who were able to 
vote multiple times.  He said his party had filed over 500 
complaints with the Basrah and Baghdad offices of the 
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq over illegal 
campaigning activity and voter fraud.  Many demonstrations would 
take place in Baghdad and Basrah in reaction to perceived 
election fraud and illegal campaigning activity by 555, he 
predicted. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Gali acknowledged that internal divisions in the 731 
coalition could have played a role in 731's poor election 
results.  In particular, he described the Iraqi Communist Party 
(17) and Al Qasimy Democratic Assembly (41) as "unpopular" in 
Basrah.  He had contacted Allawi prior to the elections and 
advised him that these parties would lose them votes in the 
south. (Comment:  The Iraqi Communist Party, which was founded 
in opposition to Saddam's regime, is seen as being intrinsically 
opposed to Al Qasimy Democratic Assembly, which has a Ba'athist 
foundation.  The presence of these two parties in the same 
coalition was perceived by voters in the south to be a sell-out 
by both in order to win votes.  End comment.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  In the end, Gali said that 731 could not realistically 
hope to form a coalition with other lists that would enable them 
to acquire more seats than 555, and he recognized that 555 would 
be the winner of the majority of National Assembly seats.  When 
asked if he believed that 731 would be able to cooperate with 
555, he answered philosophically, "Nothing is impossible in 
politics." 
 
Iranian Influence Threatens Iraqi Sovereignty 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
------------ 
 
¶7.  (C)  Gali went on to urge the U.S. Government to take an 
active stance against "Iranian influence," the encroachment of 
Islamic religious extremism into politics and society, in the 
southern provinces.  He said that extremists were using religion 
as a "veil" to hide their real objectives - personal gain and 
power over Iraqi affairs.  Iranian agents and extremists were 
spreading their influence through well-financed welfare programs 
targeting populations that were open to persuasion because of 
the years of poverty and devastation they experienced under 
Saddam's regime.  In the same way that the United States rebuilt 
Japan and Germany after World War II, Gali said, it should 
rebuild Iraq and provide a counter force to religious extremism 
coming from Iran.  He suggested that the U.S. Government provide 
funds to an organization or NGO headed by his party that would 
"educate" the populace by teaching patriotism and democracy and 
explaining the role of the United States in helping the 
reconstruction of Iraq. 
"Iraqi Unity" Strategy Backfires 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  Comment:  Gali is a well-respected member of the Basrah 
Provincial Council and has won support among the religious Shia 
population in Basrah for the secular 731 list because he himself 
is a "seyyid," or descendent of the prophet.  His dismay at 
731's poor showing in the election was sincere and heartfelt, 
but the reasons for this probably have more to do with the 
internal divisions in his party than he wanted to admit. 
Intimidation campaigns and electoral fraud may have impacted the 
vote to some degree, but the real reason why voters in the 
southern provinces voted for 555 over 731 is most likely because 
the 731 list included parties with widely divergent political 
philosophies.  Although Allawi himself is a popular figure in 
the south, his attempt at forming a coalition with diametrically 
opposed political parties lost critical support for the 731 
list.  End comment. 
GROSS