December 12, 2005

Iraqis personally upbeat, security a worry - poll

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis are personally upbeat but they remain concerned about security and half the population would prefer a single strong leader to democracy, a poll showed on Monday.

In the poll, commissioned by the BBC and other news organisations, 71 percent of respondents said things were currently very good or quite good in their personal lives -- a surprising finding in a country that is still largely at war.

Asked if things would get better in the coming year, more than 60 percent said yes, while only 12 percent said no.

An Iraqi soldier shows his finger marked with ink after casting his ballot at a polling station in the southern city of Basra December 12, 2005. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan)

Yet despite the positive personal outlook, people were much more cautious about the overall security situation nearly three years after U.S.-led forces invaded to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

The survey showed 53 percent thought the general situation was bad, while 44 percent said it was good.

The results showed significant differences across regions, with respondents in the more troubled central areas far less optimistic about the future than those in the capital, the south and the north, the BBC said.

The poll, conducted by Oxford Research International, was carried out in October and November and questioned 1,700 people.

Three days before elections for a new parliament, half of those surveyed said Iraq needed a single, strong leader, while only 28 percent said the top priority was democracy.

Yet asked what they wanted in five year's time, less than a third said a strong leader and 45 percent said democracy.

Some of the results, particularly those relating to personal outlook and expectations, have changed little since a similar poll was conducted last year.

That survey also found that 70 percent rated their lives positively, and about the same number had expected an improvement in a year's time.

Politicians running in Thursday's election may be concerned to know that Iraqis generally do not trust political parties or the government, instead putting faith in religious leaders.

When it comes to their priorities for the new government, 57 percent said the top goal was restoring security. Second on the list, with 10 percent of the vote, was the withdrawal of foreign forces and rebuilding more of the country's infrastructure came third.

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