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Iraq | |
Iraq to hold national census in 2009 | |
2008-05-29 | |
BAGHDAD - Iraq plans to hold a national census next year, paving the way for parliamentary polls expected by the end of 2009, the planning minister said on Wednesday. A lack of census data has fed rancorous disputes over the size of Iraq's different ethnic and religious groups. This has affected allocations of its oil wealth to different regions and delayed the passage of this year's $48 billion budget. Minister Ali Baban told Reuters in an interview the date of the census would be set next week. It would take place in time for the next general election, which must happen by the end of 2009, according to the constitution. "It will enable us to produce a detailed list of eligible voters and information about them for planning the parliamentary elections," he said. It would not, however, be done in time for this year's provincial elections scheduled for Oct. 1, Baban said. He said the Iraqi cabinet approved a census bill on Tuesday, which must now be approved by parliament. Mehdi al-Allaq, head of the central census department in the Planning Ministry, said questions of ethnic group and religion would appear on the census forms, but they would not ask whether those in the Muslim faith belonged to the Shi'ite or Sunni sects -- an omission consistent with past censuses. Shi'ites are in the majority in Iraq, with some estimates putting the number at 60 percent of the population, while Sunni Arabs are about 20 percent. Many Sunni Arabs, however, dispute their minority status in a country they ruled under Saddam Hussein. "Counting sectarian affiliations is not our business," he said. "The census sheet includes no data that incites tension."
The last census in 1997, which estimated the population at 22 million, did not count the three Kurdish provinces then separated by a U.S.-imposed no-fly zone. Now the population is estimated at 27 million, although 2 million have fled the country to escape sectarian violence, while another 2 million have been displaced internally. Baban said the census would count refugees outside the country as well as internal refugees. | |
Posted by:Steve White |
#1 HMMMMM.... Again, iff there is any Islamist HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI, 2008-2010 NLT 2012/13 is the time to make His Appearance and save the Jihad. FIRST THINGS FIRST, EVEN FOR "WHITNEY HUSTON" FAN OSAMA BIN LADEN + BOYZ, AND THAT MEANS STOPPING AND DEFEATING LOCAL US-ENTRENCHMENT + ULTIMAT US-ALLIED MILFORS IN [local] DECISIVE BATTLE-CAMPAIGN. |
Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-05-29 22:36 |