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Iraqi parties establish secular political bloc

October 13, 2011

Iraqi Communist Party official Raed Fahmi.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi politicians say they have formed a new secular political bloc made up of two established parties, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports.

The new political movement, to be called the Alliance of Democratic Powers, will be composed of Iraq's Communist Party, the National Democratic Party, some civil organizations, and several independent politicians.

The new bloc will be an active political entity in the next round of local elections to be held in Iraq.

Communist Party official Raed Fahmi told RFI that the new alliance will be formally unveiled on October 22. "We've been working for this moment for more than a year both inside and outside of Iraq," he said.

Fahmi said that the Alliance of Democratic Powers will group many democratically oriented parties and figures.

He told RFI that the bloc has already agreed on its internal rules and its political platform. "Our program is national and democratic," he said. "It contains solutions to many crises we are facing in Iraq."

"On the political level, we believe in democracy and in the rule of law and we will work for those things," Fahmi said. "We will also work on building good and effective institutions in the country. One of our goals is to establish a social security system as a safety net for every Iraqi."

The Communist and National Democratic parties did not do well during the last elections in Iraq and were unable to pass the threshold needed to enter parliament. But Fahmi said the Alliance of Democratic Powers will do better in the next elections.

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

Topics: Political parties, Political groups,