People's Union (Iraq)

People's Union
Founder Hamid Majid Mousa
Founded 2005
Preceded by Coalition between the Iraqi Communist Party & Hikmat Dawud Hakim
Ideology Communism
Secularism
Political position Left-wing
International affiliation None
Seats in the local governorate councils:
2 / 440

The People's Union (Arabic: اتحاد الشعب‎, Ittihad Al Shaab) is an electoral coalition in Iraq, led by the Iraqi Communist Party.

2005 elections

The People's Union was the main communist party list in the January 2005 Iraqi legislative election. It was made up of the Iraqi Communist Party and independent candidate Hikmat Dawud Hakim. Before the election, the Communist Party had attempted to form a wider coalition among secularist groups, but this effort failed. The list was led by Hamid Majid Mousa, who served on the Governing Council, and also included Mufid Mohammad Jawad al-Jazairi who served as minister of culture on the interim government.[1] The party, while small, ran one of the more organized campaigns in the election, and its list of 257 candidates was the longest of any party. In the January elections, the People's Union received 69,920 votes, or 0.83% of ballots cast, earning them two seats in the transitional Iraqi National Assembly, where they were represented by Mousa and Jazairi.

Prior to the December 2005 elections, the list merged with several others to join the Iraqi National List.

2010 election

The People's Union was reformed on 14 November 2009 to contest the 2010 election.[2] The People's Union participated but failed to gain any seats due to new election laws requiring parties to reach a certain threshold in an province before receiving seats. This encouraged Communist Party supporters to vote for the larger lists due to a fear that by voting for a smaller party they were wasting their vote.[3]

During the 2010 elections the People's Union consisted of the following parties:[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ BBC News (2005-01-31). "Iraq election: Who ran?". Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  2. ↑ http://www.iraqhurr.org/content/article/1878269.html
  3. ↑ http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_1_No_17_Special_Issue_November_2011/13.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/People%27s+Union+list+for+parliamentary+polls+announced-a0212089351
  5. ↑ http://www.alwaqt.com/art.php?aid=187035