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DE RUEHGB #0522/01 0590721
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FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6868

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000522 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/28/2011 
TAGS: IZ PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: DIWANIYAH PROVINCE:  DE-BA,ATHIFICATION 
CONTROVERSY SUBSIDES BUT LINGERS IN SUSPENSION OF DEPUTY 
GOVERNOR 
 
REF: 10 BAGHDAD 446 10 BAGHDAD 422 
 
Classified By: Diwaniyah PRT Team Leader Michael Klecheski.  Reasons: 1 
.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.   (C) SUMMARY:   Diwaniyah Province officials have eased 
up on their de-Ba,athification campaign, and in their 
conversations with PRToffs they now downplay plans for its 
implementation.  Yet the de-Ba,athification issue lingers in 
the suspension of First Deputy Governor Ab,d Muslim Ghazali, 
a former mid-level Ba,ath official who is one of the leading 
Iraqiya candidates in the province.  Politicians associated 
with Governor Salim Alwan,s Da,wa party have told PRToffs 
that they attribute the suspension, and the leave of absence 
that Ghazali then took because of illness, to the Deputy 
Governor,s alleged abuse of office, while politicians 
associated with Iraqiya tell the PRT that the popular Ghazali 
is being hounded to weaken his own and his party,s electoral 
chances in the province.   University and sub-provincial 
government contacts tell PRT that citizens are keenly 
interested in the election but are confused by the lack of 
specificity in campaign materials; few parties have clarified 
their specific platforms.  A growing number of PRT contacts 
say voters will opt for secular over religiously oriented 
candidates.  END SUMMARY . 
 
DE-BA,ATHIFICATION SCALES DOWN( 
¶2.   (C) The de-Ba,athification campaign that Governor Alwan 
and numerous other Diwaniyah politicians had been pursuing 
(refs A-B) has lost steam over the past week.  There have 
been no demonstrations against Ba,athists in the past week. 
In a change of tone from previous conversations, Governor 
Alwan (Da,wa)  told the PRT and its military partners on 
February 23 that the campaign had only been aimed at those 
with &blood on their hands8 during the Saddam era and not 
at former Ba,athists who had been in the party just to 
further their careers.  Dakhil Saihoud (Da,wa), Chairman of 
the Provincial Council (PC) Committee on Justice and 
Accountability and Supportive Powers, told PRToffs that the 
provincial administration would carry through with its plans 
to take agricultural land leases away from former 
Ba,athists.  The administration would not, however, demote 
former Ba,athists from leadership positions, as it 
previously announced it would do.  According to Saihoud, that 
previous announcement had been made to ease the enormous 
pressure from demonstrators at the height of the anti-Ba,ath 
campaign in the province, but neither the administration nor 
the PC had ever intended to implement it. 
(BUT LINGERS ON IN A DEPUTY GOVERNOR,S SUSPENSION 
¶3.   (C) Nonetheless, there is speculation that the 
suspension of First Deputy Governor Ghazali marks an indirect 
use of the anti-Ba,athist campaign to hurt the 
cross-sectarian  Iraqiya coalition,s prospects in Diwaniyah. 
 Ghazali is a former officer in the Saddam-era Iraqi Army and 
a former Ba,ath party member.  He also is the number two 
candidate on Iraqiya,s list in the province, and many 
contacts, including Health Department Director of Training 
Dr. Yahya Naqeeb, have told us Ghazali is a popular figure 
with a good chance of being elected.  On February 14, 
following media reports citing comments by provincial 
politicians on Ghazali,s Baathist past, the Governor issued 
an order suspending him.  The governor,s spokesman told the 
PRT that the order was based only on the law, which 
proscribed any provincial administration official from 
holding his position while also running for office; should 
Ghazali lose in the elections, he would resume his 
responsibilities as Deputy Governor, the spokesman insisted. 
Qresponsibilities as Deputy Governor, the spokesman insisted. 
According to PC member Saihoud, who told us he was closely 
involved in the decision, however, evidence had surfaced that 
the Deputy Governor was corrupt, had taken unauthorized trips 
to Baghdad, and had misused government vehicles to pursue his 
electoral campaign.  Immediately following his suspension, 
Saihoud continued, Ghazali had taken a medical leave of 
absence to avoid being investigated during the campaign. 
¶4.  (C) Huda Hmoud Mohsin, Chair of the PC Media Committee 
(Iraqiya), described Ghazali,s case in different terms.  She 
acknowledged that Ghazali had asked for a leave of absence to 
avoid being investigated.  Ghazali had done so, however, 
because the Governor was falsely accusing him of illegal 
activities in order to undercut his electoral prospects and 
that of Iraqiya, Mohsin argued.  The elections were shaping 
up to be fraudulent, Mohsin alleged, with the provincial 
administration using its powers to manipulate the situation 
in advance and the Governate Elections Office (GEO), 
dominated by Da,wa and Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq 
(ISCI) officials, preparing to allow widespread fraud during 
the vote count. 
INTEREST IN ELECTION, DOUBTS ABOUT CANDIDATES 
¶5.  (C) In recent conversations with people of various 
educational and social backgrounds, PRToffs have frequently 
heard that people are keenly interested in the elections. 
The public feels overwhelmed by the sheer number of parties 
 
 
and candidates and the lack of clarity about their platforms. 
 Shehed Abdullah Shehed, mayor of the Budayr sub-district in 
the remote east of the province, told the PRT that he 
expected an 85 percent turnout in his area, although he added 
that most voters would be participating to &socialize with 
their neighbors8 rather than because they understood the 
platforms or genuinely supported candidates.  Sami Basheer, a 
professor of English at Qadissiyah University, told PRToffs 
that university students are excited about the elections, and 
he predicted a seventy-five percent turnout among that group. 
 He added, however, that students are unsure of candidates, 
platforms, which tempers their enthusiasm somewhat.  Several 
tribal leaders from Mahnawiyah in the province,s 
northwestern corner complained to PRToffs that candidates 
were relying on posters and platitudes for campaign 
advertising, so that locals did not understand the 
candidates, views.  Dr. Naqeeb of the provincial Health 
office told PRToffs privately that potential voters are 
turned off by politicians, empty promises; he said turnout 
could thus be about fifty percent in the province.  Governor 
Alwan, in his February 23 conversation with the PRT, rated 
election preparations as good in the province but said there 
were too many parties in the running, which would lead to a 
weak Parliament. 
A TENDENCY TOWARD SECULAR CANDIDATES 
¶6.  (C) Even as they air complaints about lack of clarity of 
candidates, platforms, many of the PRT,s contacts report 
that voters have grown weary of religious-oriented parties 
and that they are inclined to vote for the more secular ones. 
 Dr. Naqeeb told PRToffs that even rural voters, though seen 
by many as inclined to support religious parties, are coming 
to the view that they should vote for technocrats instead. 
Naqeeb continued that the populace is coming to see religious 
parties as unable to manage a complex government with 
efficiency and results, whereas technocrats know how to 
manage. The above-mentioned tribal leaders from Mahniwiyah, 
who said they favor Iraqiya, made the same point.  Qadissiyah 
professor Basheer also said university students share this 
view.  Afak District Manager (mayor) Majid Hussein Ali, whose 
brother is an Iraqiya candidate, also echoed this view and 
said it would redound to Iraqiya,s benefit.  He predicted 
that a backlash to the anti-Ba,athist campaign would 
similarly help Iraqiya. 
INTENSE CAMPAIGNING 
¶7.  (C) If the public is indeed increasingly impatient with 
religiously oriented parties, it would likely hit 
particularly hard at the Islamic Supreme Council for Iraq 
(ISCI) in Diwaniyah Province.  ISCI has long been on the 
offensive against the current Da,wa-led provincial 
administration, arguing that its ISCI-led predecessor was far 
more effective.  The governor under that ISCI-led 
administration, Hamad Musa Khudari, is a leading candidate on 
the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) ticket who, according to 
Dr. Naqeeb and other PRT contacts, is expected to do well, 
particularly among the lower classes.  Seeking to boost 
Khudari,s chances, ISCI leader Amaar Hakim conducted a 
two-day campaign swing through the province.  That visit 
followed a half-day visit by Prime Minister Maliki, who held 
a State of Law (SLA) campaign rally at Qadissiyah University 
(as well as a pep talk to Provincial Council and government 
officials, asking them to do their duties in accordance with 
the law).  Among SLA candidates, several PRT contacts have 
said that Deputy Speaker of Parliament Khalid al-Atiyah is a 
shoo-in.  They also note that SLA candidate Jabbar Mawat, who 
Qshoo-in.  They also note that SLA candidate Jabbar Mawat, who 
heads the Martyr,s Association in Diwaniyah, has gained some 
popularity from the anti-Ba,ath campaign but still suffers 
under a reputation for corruption.  The PRT has not heard 
about Iraqiya campaign rallies, although Iraqiya candidates, 
posters feature prominently.  One of the most prominent 
Iraqiya candidate appears to be Aziz Sharif Razam;  Naqeeb 
was among several PRT contacts who said that Razam, a wealthy 
contractor, is widely respected for having spent his own 
money to build roads, schools and clinics and thus has a 
strong chance of winning a seat. 
COMMENT 
¶8.  (C) The PRT has little doubt that the anti-Ba,ath 
campaign aimed to weaken Iraqiya,s prospects in the 
province.  Although PRT contacts say that Iraqiya,s top 
candidate in the province, incumbent CoR member Hussein 
Sha,alan, is widely seen as almost certain to be reelected, 
the prospects for that party,s number two candidate, Deputy 
Governor Ghazali, are less certain.  This may explain why, 
even as the de-Ba,athification issue scaled down in the 
province as it did throughout the country, Ghazali has come 
under particularly strong political attack. 
¶9.  (C) Predicting turnout in the province is difficult.  A 
common refrain in Diwaniyah is that cynicism will temper 
voter participation; voters were disappointed by the national 
government,s inability to assist the economically struggling 
province, and  by the ineffectual incumbent Da,wa-led 
provincial administration as well as its ISCI-led 
predecessor. 
 
 
HILL