Iraq is poised to conduct its first national census in nearly three decades, with a two-day curfew set to be imposed to ensure the process runs smoothly. The last census, held in 1997, only covered 15 of the country’s 18 provinces, as three were outside the control of then-leader Saddam Hussein.
Despite the government’s confidence in its ability to conduct the census, critics have raised concerns about partisan bias, given the Shiite-dominated government.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani announced the curfew, which will be in effect on November 20 and 21, to facilitate the census. Multiple government ministries will provide facilities to train census staff, but the government’s own set of rules.
However, controversy surrounds the decision to exclude questions about “sect” and “ethnicity” from the census. Critics argue that this omission is motivated by sectarian reasons, aimed at preserving the Shiite-dominated power structure. The issue has been a point of contention for years, with the Iraqi supreme court ultimately deciding earlier this year to remove the ethnicity question from the census.
According to Mahdi al Alaq, president of the Iraqi Society for Statistical Sciences, the court’s decision was made to prevent the repetition of past problems and to focus the census on development rather than resolving disputes.
Iraq’s population is estimated to have nearly doubled since the last census, which recorded 22 million people in 15 provinces. The country’s sectarian divisions have been a major challenge, with the majority Shiite population and a significant Sunni minority.
