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A look at political advertising in Iraq

Iraq’s parliamentary election campaign officially has just begun, but some ambitious candidates have been campaigning unofficially for weeks. Here in the capital, as in the oil town of Basra to the south, parliamentary hopefuls and political parties plastered roadside billboards and buildings with posters that subtly support their races, before a ban on campaigning was […]

Matt Bradley and Ali A. Nabhan report for The Wall Street Journal :

Iraq’s parliamentary election campaign officially has just begun, but some ambitious candidates have been campaigning unofficially for weeks.

Here in the capital, as in the oil town of Basra to the south, parliamentary hopefuls and political parties plastered roadside billboards and buildings with posters that subtly support their races, before a ban on campaigning was lifted Tuesday. While Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission, which oversees the country’s vote, said it complained about some of the ads, there was little it could do to stop them, it said. By steering clear of direct references to the elections, they technically avoided running afoul of the rules.

They are now fixtures in the landscape here—among the many more overt ads that have sprung up since campaigning officially began Tuesday—each an oblique call for support at the April 30 polls.