Iraqi want to decide own government, says PM

29 November 2004

The Iraqi people want the chance to take part in January's historic elections, Prime Minister Tony Blair said today following talks with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih.

Elections in Iraq are due to take place on 30 January 2005.

Read the press conference in full below:

Prime Minister:

Good Morning everyone. First of all can I welcome very much the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister here and say how pleased I am to have him here, and to pay tribute to his courage and his leadership in difficult times in Iraq, but also to his determination to make sure that Iraq is given the chance to develop as a stable and prosperous democracy, and that is what we are all working for. And as we have just been discussing, for all the focus on the problems in Iraq that still need to be overcome, particularly those problems that are caused by insurgents and terrorists who want to stop the democratic process, the fact is the will of the overwhelming majority of Iraqi people is indeed to decide their government by democratic choice, to produce that stability and therefore that prosperity in the country so that Iraq can be a fully sovereign stable democracy. That is what we both want to see. And we agreed obviously on the importance of the elections, on the importance of the process of making sure that the Iraqi security forces are built up, because the American, British and other international forces are there in a supporting role, we are there now with the support of the United Nations, but we are there also only for as long as it takes to make sure that Iraq has its own capability of providing the security that the country needs. And I think that despite some of the predictions of the past few weeks, that the events in Fallujah would set off a whole series of things across Iraq, I think that it is clear that it is important that all parts of Iraq are brought under the authority of the United Nations-supported Iraqi Interim Government so that elections can take place, so that we can have a proper functioning democracy. That is what we all want to see.

So again Barham, welcome here, thank you very much indeed for being here and again thank you for everything you have done for the Iraqi people.

Mr Saleh:

Thank you Mr Prime Minister. Obviously it has been a pleasure and honour to meet the Prime Minister and to have the opportunity to express to him directly the gratitude of the Iraqi people for his leadership and his support, and the support of the United Kingdom at this critical juncture of our history.

We are in a process of building a democratic system of government that will be at peace with the people of Iraq and at peace with the world. This is no easy mission and one should not under-estimate the difficulties inherent in this monumental challenge, but we are doing it, and the support of the United Kingdom, the United States and the coalition partners to the people of Iraq has been obviously remarkable and appreciated.

Critical to us at this juncture is preparing for elections. The Iraqi government is committed to holding elections on time. We take very seriously our obligations to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi interim administrative law, as well as to the United Nations Security Council resolutions that elections should be held on time. We are doing whatever we can in terms of modernising Iraqi resources and capabilities, but obviously we are grateful for the support that we are receiving from the United Kingdom and the international community at large. Holding elections on time will lend credibility to the critical process. At the same time we are insistent upon these elections to be free and fair. That will not be an easy mission to accomplish, but I think as we have demonstrated in the past, Iraqis are capable of overcoming challenges. We have met every deadline that we were asked to meet by the international community and by the Iraqi political process. We are working with all Iraqi communities to make sure that the political process will be inclusive and fair, and my hope is that the world media will be able to report on the situation in Iraq in a comprehensive way. Obviously we have challenges and difficulties that we have to deal with, and we are dealing with, but there are also amazing stories of progress throughout Iraq, whether it is in the economic field, in the political field, and I am hopeful that the world will remain engaged with us.

Once again Mr Prime Minister, thank you for your leadership, thank you for your help during this critical period of our history.

Question:

How is it going to be possible to hold elections on time though given the problems there have been with newly trained Iraqi forces when one looks at the recent collapse of Iraqi police forces in Mozul and given that so many Sunni parties are calling for a delay?

Prime Minister:

There are not problems first of all in all parts of Iraq. There are problems in certain parts of Iraq and we are dealing with those problems. Actually there are many examples also of the new Iraqi forces behaving with exemplary courage and dedication to their task. So the key thing is, are we going to allow people engaged in acts of terrorism to stop the Iraqi people having the right to vote in their government? And I think democracy has got an enormous and powerful impact on the whole mentality of the people, because they can see the prospect for the first time of being able to elect their government. And yes there are difficulties from people who want to kill anyone who is trying to make the country better, but I think our response has got to be to refuse to let those people succeed, and I am sure that that is the spirit in which the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people will approach it.

Mr Saleh:

I think it is important to remember that Iraqi security forces are being built as we speak, and these forces have behaved admirably during recent conflicts in Fallujah, and Samarah and Najaf, and we are proud of them. Yes there were problems in Mozul, but I think this should be seen in the wider context of the success story in terms of building Iraqi security organisations. And in terms of the Sunni community, there is an outreach programme, led by the Prime Minister, to engage leaders of the Sunni community and I am confident that the Sunni community wants to take part in the election because they see this as the way that the future of Iraq will be decided. The terrorists do not speak for any decent law-abiding Iraqi citizens and also, as a reminder, more than 180 Iraqi political parties and entities have registered so far to take part in the elections. The debate over elections and a technical delay in the elections is also a mark of the seriousness with which Iraqis are taking the issue of elections, and this debate should not be misconstrued or misunderstood in any way, shape or form, as taking away from the credibility of elections and the importance that Iraqis in all communities of Iraq are attaching to the election process.

Question:

You stressed that the elections will take place as planned. If they do, will they take place in all parts of Iraq, will they include all Iraq?

Mr Saleh:

We are committed to holding free and fair elections throughout Iraq to enable every law abiding Iraqi citizen in any region of Iraq to take part in elections. I understand, given the security and political environment that we are going through, this will be a difficult mission to accomplish, but also remember delaying elections with the ramifications it will have to the political process, that will be an easier mission to achieve, and this is what we intend to do.

Question:

Inaudible.

Mr Saleh:

Of course.