VZCZCXRO3890
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHIHL #0018/01 0431523
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 121523Z FEB 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0536
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0521
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0583

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/12/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PINR IZ
SUBJECT: WASIT POLITICAL OUTSIDERS PREPARE FOR PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS 
 
HILLAH 00000018  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: GARY ANDERSON, ACTING REGIONAL COORDINATOR, REO, 
AL-HILLAH, STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Wasit Provincial Council and local officials 
outside of the ruling Shi'a Islamist groupings (principally the 
major constituent parties of the United Iraqi Alliance) have 
begun preparations for provincial elections to be held on an 
undetermined date in 2006. A slate of secular PC and 
sub-district council officials is in the works and is actively 
seeking USG support in the provincial elections. A strong 
performance by Sadrist candidates is likely, though the extent 
to which they will align themselves with the dominant Shi'a 
Islamist Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq 
(SCIRI) and Badr Organization is unknown.  Elected officials 
from across the province have also expressed their fears that 
the provincial budget, recently supplemented by a large infusion 
of funds from Baghdad, will be used by PC members to secure 
personal and political favors. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL OUTSIDERS ASK FOR U.S. AID 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (C) Wasit Provincial Council members Hadi Al-Yaseri and 
Dakhel Shawi informed Regional Embassy Office Al-Hillah staff 
during the week of February 8 that they intend to form an 
independent slate to compete in provincial elections to be held 
after the formation of a new federal government in Baghdad. 
Al-Yaseri, an independent member of the Provincial Council, 
stated he decided to set out on his own after declining an offer 
by SCIRI and Badr officials to run on a Shi'a Islamist slate. 
The current PC, in the opinion of Al-Yaseri, is too firmly in 
the hands of religious parties. Further, he fully expects SCIRI 
and Badr affiliated slates to exploit their connections to Shi'a 
religious authorities in Wasit province and the Marja'iya in 
Najaf. Al-Yaseri also pointedly asked why the United States was 
not actively and publicly supporting secular parties and 
candidates, when it was clear that religious parties were 
drawing support from states "outside Iraq". 
 
----------------------------------- 
STRONG SADRIST PERFORMANCE EXPECTED 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Like other provincial officials, Al-Yaseri said he 
expected that Sadrists candidates would win a large percentage, 
perhaps as high as 30 percent, of provincial council seats. 
Also, he predicted that Dawa-Iraq officials in Wasit would break 
from SCIRI/Badr and align themselves with the Sadrists. Wasit 
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) chairman Haider 
Allawi, also told REO staff that the Sadrist presence was 
becoming more visible and organized in the province, and that a 
strong electoral showing is likely. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
RECONSTRUCTION BUDGET AS CAMPAIGN TOOL 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Wasit elected officials outside the top tier of Shi'a 
Islamist members of the Provincial Council have expressed to REO 
staff their concern that Wasit's share of money from the 
National Reconstruction Council in Baghdad (approximately USD 90 
million, according to the Governor) will be misused by PC 
officials. Al-Yaseri and Shawi both said that though they were 
aware Wasit would receive the money; neither of them had been 
involved in Provincial Council discussions on how the money will 
be spent. Al-Debony sub-district council chairman Faris Hassan 
Yousef, in his first meeting with REO staff, complained that 
government units below the Provincial Council level have been 
shut out of the budget entirely. NOTE: The Governor and PC 
members, though recently very cooperative during Provincial 
Reconstruction and Development Committee meetings to discuss the 
use of USG reconstruction funds, have been close-lipped and 
unwilling to discuss how the PC plans to allocate money from 
Baghdad. END NOTE. 
 
¶5. (C) COMMENT. Though a firm date for provincial elections has 
not been set, the broad contours of the contest are already 
apparent. Reconstruction progress and federalism will be among 
the major issues in the South Central region of Iraq. SCIRI/Badr 
will almost certainly remain the dominant Shi'a Islamist force 
in the province and are using the last months of the current 
provincial government to strengthen their hand.  A key 
unanswered question is to what extent the current truce between 
the Sadrists and Badr Organization will hold as elections 
approach. Secular parties and slates, particularly those headed 
by marginalized PC members such as Al-Yaseri, are unlikely to 
have a major impact on the power structure of the province. END 
COMMENT. 
 
HILLAH 00000018  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: 
 
HADI AL-YASERI: AKA Sayyed Hadi Ne'emah Ali Al Yaseri. A 
schoolteacher, Hadi is a member of the Al-Yaseri tribe, a large 
tribe in Diyala and Wasit provinces in Eastern Iraq. He was 
elected to the Provincial Council on the "Wasit Iraqi Elites 
Gathering", a slate that combined SCIRI/Badr affiliated 
candidates with more moderate Shi'a Islamists. Once on the 
Provincial Council, however, Al-Yaseri established himself as an 
independent. 
 
DAKHIL SHAWI: Secular, independent Provincial Council member, 
not affiliated with any slate. Resident of Al-Moufaqiyah, where 
he was a member of the district council before his election to 
the PC. An engineer by training, Shawi is a member of the 
Al-Rufaiy tribe, a large Saudi-based tribe with a small presence 
in Wasit. Shawi speaks English well. 
 
FARIS HASSAN YOUSEF: Secular, Al-Dubony district council member. 
Trained as an agricultural engineer and head of the local 
Al-Dubony agricultural and cultivators' association. In addition 
to his support in the agricultural community, Yousef receives 
support as a prominent member of the Garqul'li tribe.   END 
BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION. 
ANDERSON