Free Elections, Free Press

Sign of the times in Basra:

The machines have finally gone quiet at Basra’s biggest printing press after a frantic month of churning out the election posters now plastered on almost every inch of Iraq’s second biggest city.
…
Under former leader Saddam Hussein, printing presses needed government permission for anything they put out, said Abdul Mahdi al-Aamiri, manager of Basra’s Alghadeer printing company.

“The huge difference democracy has made to our business – you can’t even compare to how we were before,” he said.

PM Maliki looks to do well on a law-and-order ticket capitalizing on the huge gains in security:

Maliki, whose own Dawa Party was founded by Sadr’s uncle in the 1950s, has staked a claim to some of the Sadr movement’s nationalist rhetoric. He also claims credit for winning a U.S. promise to withdraw within three years. But mostly his appeal is based on having reclaimed the streets from the armed men.

“Now we can go out at night. We can go everywhere and we don’t fear any criminals,” said Sahar Nasser, 37, who will cast her vote for Maliki’s list.