VIOLENCE KILLS 37

Bombs, mortar rounds and rocket attacks killed 37 people and wounded dozens of others in the capital Baghdad though the Iraqi government mobilized around 1 million security forces and other personnel to protect the election.

In the bloodiest incident Sunday, 25 people were killed and 19 others wounded when a mortar round struck a residential building in Baghdad's northeastern neighborhood of Ur, said an Interior Ministry source.

Meanwhile, four people were killed and eight others injured when a building collapsed after a powerful bomb explosion in the al-Shurta al-Rabia neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, the source said.

Also in the day, four people were killed and six injured when a Katyusha rocket struck the densely populated neighborhood of Hurriyah in northern Baghdad, the source added.

In a separate incident, two people were killed and six others injured in a roadside bomb explosion outside a school used to be a voting center in western Baghdad neighborhood of Khadraa, he said.

Two more people were killed and five others injured in a roadside bomb at Jihad district in southwestern Baghdad, the source added.

Ayad Allawi, former prime minister and head of the Iraqia List, said he expected the mortar attacks will have opposite impacts and Iraqis are determined to go to the voting boxes.

"Today is a turning point for Iraq ... because Iraqis have got fed up with deterioration in security, stability, basic services and economy," Allawi said.

KEY TO IRAQ'S FUTURE

The election is regarded as a test for the country's national reconciliation and political process.

Since al-Maliki took office in May 2006, Iraqis have experienced a surge of sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, which left tens of thousands dead, then a serious political crisis with a boycott against the government, and a resurge of violence since the end of last June.

Most Iraqis say they have become tired of sectarian violence and are eager for a normal life with improved basic services.

No boycott among voters occurs, despite a temporary withdrawal of the National Dialogue Front led by banned candidate Salah al- Mutlak Mutalaq.

However, the ban on some Sunni politicians from running in the election over alleged links to the outlawed Baath party is still likely to increase uncertainties after the election.

Different from the 2005 parliamentary election, most of the major political coalitions contesting this year's election are cross-sectarian on the surface. Nationalism is a common campaign slogan.

A substantial consensus among different blocs on a number of issues is the key to the restoration of peace and stability of the country.

The parliament will have one quarter of its members women according to the law. Women are expected to play a more constructive role in the country after their experience in the past four years.

"We need to enhance the role of Iraqi women in creating peace and national integrity and developing our society. Iraqi women must take part in building a new Iraq," said Maysoun al-Damaloji, currently a member of parliament. She joins the Iraqia List and seeks re-election.