BAGHDAD, 15 November 2004 — Political parties are rushing to contest Iraq’s first attempt at free elections in decades despite a bloody insurgency aimed at sabotaging the ballot.

“All the Iraqi people want the elections,” election commission head Abdul Hussain Hindawi told Reuters in an interview against a backdrop of the occasional thud of explosions in the distance.

More than 60 mostly new parties have signed up in less than two weeks for the Jan. 27 National Assembly elections and more are expected in the final week of registration, Hindawi said. Hindawi, a French-educated philosopher who worked as a journalist, is confident the election will succeed.

“We are very optimistic and very realistic at the same time. We know that there will be a lot of difficulties,” said Hindawi, whose office is tucked behind blast walls and razor wire in Baghdad’s high security “Green Zone” of government buildings.

“(Iraqis) want a legitimate power and they want to close this chapter which they have endured for more than 50 years.”

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s interim government and Washington have vowed to crush guerrillas so the polls can go ahead safely and on time. But Iraqis, angered by a US-led offensive to wrest control of the city of Fallujah from guerrillas, are threatening a boycott.

Almost 14 million of Iraq’s 25 million people have been enrolled as voters, based on ration cards issued under Saddam. Hindawi estimates up to 15 million may be eligible to vote after Iraqis living abroad sign up.

They will elect a 275-member National Assembly, with a single constituency for the entire country. Seats will be allocated to parties according to their proportion of the vote.

With a week left to register, parties already include all major ethnic and religious groups: Sunni, Shiite, Kurd and Christian. Hindawi said he and his team would have to learn everything from scratch — ranging from how to deal with disgruntled minorities to registering voters and counting the results. About 40,000 polling stations will cover a maximum 550 voters each, to make it easier for officials to combat fraud and keep voting queues down to encourage turnout. When campaigning begins on Dec. 15, candidates may rely on the media and avoid going out on the hustings because of security fears.