IRAQ THE MODEL

In a press conference this morning, Ahmed Chalabi revealed the components of his new bloc with which he’s entering the upcoming election in December after he left the National Alliance.

He also seized the chance to announce his slate’s platform which of course included many not unexpected ideas like promises to fighting terrorism, creating more jobs and rebuilding the infrastructure which are common findings in almost all recent speeches of politicians but the most interesting plans he talked about was introducing an oil revenue distribution plan similar to that currently used in Alaska with one difference that is money is to be distributed monthly instead of annually.
I have doubts about the feasibility of such a system in Iraq, I think it can be a good alternative for subsidizing fuel and food rations, maybe in a few years from now but not at the moment (I will probably write in detail about this in a separate post).

The other significant statement he made came when he described his bloc as “a choice for Iraqi voters who do not want Iraq to become a theocracy…”
This makes one think that his separation from the National Alliance was not a political tactical maneuver like some observers suggested but more likely the result of a conflict of interests.

A positive change is noticeable even from the early days of the campaigns of competing parties and politicians (religious and secular) and it shows clearly in the speeches they’re making on TV; there’s more talking about plans and strategies than about sentiments and emotion-targeting slogans which dominated their campaigns before the January elections.
It is true their ways of presenting their platforms are still superficial and underdeveloped but it marks a change in the way politicians speak to voters.