Polls talk.

In a latest poll (link in Arabic) done by an Iraqi centre for research and on the ground studies "Al Mada", 300 men and women were selected from different age groups, classes and jobs to answer series of questions regarding the upcoming elections, and the main results were:67% do not support postponing the elections.52% refuse the interference of clerics in politics and 39% support such interference.100% of women in Azzamyia favored postponing the elections while 93.5% of the women in Sadr city favored that it would be held at the exact decided time.85.66% have set up their minds on whom to vote for.59.33% have no knowledge about the details of the election process, the lists of candidates and their platforms.The poll included the poor Shi'at district Sadr city.- Azzamyia district, where most of the residents are Sunni middle class families and was known since the 60s to be a stronghold for the Ba'athists.-Karrada which is mainly middle and high class She'at district.-Al Mansoor which is on of the fanciest neighborhood in Baghdad (sects, religions and ethnic group doesn't matter much there).Other chosen districts were Al Doura, Al Karkh and Al Fadl.Al Mansoor scored the highest percentage of people who have set up their minds on whom to vote, (87.94%) while the lowest was in Azzamyia, (13.15) and Sadr city scored 39.47%.Azzamiya scored the highest percentage of those who favor the interference of clerics in politics (63%) while the lowest percentage was in Mansoor (21%)Men scored the highest percentage in supporting separation of religion from politics. 57% of them said they didn't favor the interference of clerics in politics.On the other hand 43% of women said they didn't favor the interference of clerics in politics compared to 46% who favored such interference.So, if we depend on this poll (why not since whenever we open our mouths to say that Iraqis want democracy, some big hot shot scream, "BUT THE POLLS SAY THE OPPOSITE") the majority wants the election to be held at the exact time. The majority don't know much about the election process and the majority want the clerics to stay out of politics (note that most of the women who favored the interference of clerics in politics were from the Sunni district Azzamyia which makes their stand negligible since there are no Sunni clerics running for office and since most of the fears are from She'at clergy, as Sunnis are a minority anyway and it won't harm a lot if Sunni clerics get some representation).All in all the poll showed many encouraging results and among those I was more encouraged by the fact that many people have decided whom to vote while the low percentage in Azzamyia was not surprising in this field, as no one expects many people there would vote, but the lower percentage of the people who had setup their minds in Sadr city is actually encouraging because it indicates among other things that poor She'at are not necessarily going to vote for the list that Sistani favors and showed his support for, or for Sadr followers' list. These people want to decide on their own and don't seem to be impressed by Sadr or even Sistani!So lets leave polls speak for now and wait for the 30th of January as then we won't need my poll or others' polls. We'll just listen to the Iraqi people as they speak for the first time in their lives.