Elections in Tikrit

In an apparent reversal of Paul Bremer's opposition to municipal elections, Tikrit elected a city council on Thursday. Apparently in the absence of voter registration roles, authorities granted each known household in the municipality one vote. (This procedure would have resulted in a largely middle aged and elderly male electorate, since the patriarch would most likely be the one to excercise the single vote allowed). Naji Hussein Jabara won as mayor. Presumably elections were allowed in Tikrit even though they were earlier blocked by Bremer in places like Najaf because the CPA thinks that it will make the city more governable if it has chosen its own leadership. Tikrit has witnessed many attacks on US troops.