A day before they go to the polls, Iraqis appear discouraged and disillusioned with democracy. Reconstruction is slow, forcing two, even three families to live together. There is a shortage of 1.3 million housing units, and those that exist lack stable water sources. A low turnout is expected.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) – As the country gets ready to vote tomorrow amid bombings, parties jockeying for power and foreign influence, most voters have to deal with more quotidian concerns, none too easy to address. Security remains a great challenge, services are dismal and corruption is rampant. Poverty and unemployment are rising, as housing shortages caused by an anaemic construction sector forces two, sometimes three families to live under the same roof.

By UN estimates, cited by the New York Times, Iraq has 2.8 million housing units for a population of 30 million, leaving a shortage of about 1.3 million homes.

As the population continues to grow, the country needs to build 3.5 million housing units—more than doubling its stock—by 2015.

At present, the government can build only 10 to 15 per cent of the needed homes. The Housing Ministry has even had to scrap housing plans for this year because of a lack of funding. The rest will have to be built by private investors, foreign and domestic. In any event, doing anything tends to be thwarted by the poor security situation in the country.

Problems also beset existing housing. According to the United Nations, 89 per cent of Iraqi homes lack stable water sources, and 73 per cent are not connected to a sewer system. The average house gets eight hours of electricity a day from the grid. Adding houses will only increase the demand for services.

Meanwhile, unemployment has hit record levels, health care is at its lowest, and the country is dying of thirst.

Drought has struck large areas of the country, forcing the government to increase food imports, as Iraq’s main rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, are overexploited by its neighbours (Turkey, Syria and Iran) who built dams in their upper reaches.

Voters tend to be discouraged and disillusioned by Iraq’s newly found democracy. Turnout in this round of election is not expected to be high. For Elections Commission officials, a 50 per cent turnout would be a success.

• iraq
• parliamentary
• elections
• democracy
• crisis
• turnout
• dams
• tigris
• euphrates
• neighbours
• syria
• turkey
• iran
• housing