"Joy" over the peaceful vote, says Baghdad's Chaldean Patriarch
Baghdad (AsiaNews) Mgr Emmanuel III Delly, Chaldean Patriarch, expressed his "joy and gratitude" that yesterday's referendum went smoothly. Speaking to AsiaNews via telephone the Patriarch "thanked the Lord for the unexpected peaceful conditions in which the vote took place."
Patriarch Delly was not in Iraq yesterday when more than 60 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot for the new constitution. He is currently at the Vatican for the Synod on the Eucharist. He told AsiaNews that the Synod of the Chaldean Church tentatively scheduled for next month in Rome is still not certain to take place.
In Iraq, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said yesterday after casting his ballot that "[t]he constitution is a sign of civilisation. We consider this a day of great achievement. This constitution has come after heavy sacrifices. It is a new birth."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in London yesterday that Iraq's referendum on a new constitution has probably passed.
Provisional estimates put the number of those who actually cast their ballots at about 10 million out of 15.5 million eligible voters.
All polling stations closed as scheduled at 5 pm local time without extensions. It is not known however when results will be announced. But according to the Election Commission, the first reliable indications could be available tonight. Other sources say instead that nothing will be known for at least three days. Official results must be announced by October 24.
What US and Iraqi forces feared might be a bloody day turned out to the most peaceful day in several months. Unlike what happened back in January's parliamentary elections when dozens of attacks and a Sunni call for a boycott marred the process, in many cities voting took place this time in total calm. And this time Sunni voters turned out in great numbers and did not desert the ballot box.
Still, a spokesman for the Election Commission, Saadallah al-Rawi, said that the turnout was low in five cities in al-Anbar province. In Ramadi, in the Sunni triangle, voting stations went largely deserted yesterday, but voters' participation in Mosul, Falluja and Baquba was much higher.
In Erbil (Kurdistan) turnout was lower than in January, but in the Shiite stronghold of Karbala in the south, turnout was much higher topping the 50 per cent mark. Many voters told journalists they were voting to bring the US occupation to an end.
In Sadr Citya predominantly Shiite suburban neighbourhood in Baghdadthe turnout was particularly high, reaching 73 per cent.
The large-scale attacks against polling stations that many feared did not materialise. Ten Election Commission employees were abducted in two locations in al-Anbar province; five ballot boxers were stolen at a polling station in Abu Ghraib; and four Iraqi soldiers were killed near other polling stations.
By comparison, in January there were more than 100 attacks that killed more than 40 people.
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