IRAQ: 2010 IN THE STARS

December 31, 2009, 2:03 pm
By SA'AD AL-IZZI

BAGHDAD — As the year ends, Iraqis have one question about 2010 for their favorite astrologer: “Who will rule Iraq?”
One of the most popular pastimes for Iraqis during the curfew hours on New Year’s Eve is watching television to see predictions for the new year on Iraqi and Arabic channels.

Ali al-Bakri, an Iraqi astrologer who has his own horoscope show on the state-run Iraqiya TV, and receives 50-60 emails daily on his show. He ran his predictions for 2010 in one of the local newspapers a couple of days before New Year’s Eve.

“The first questions people ask are who is going to rule Iraq, is the country going to be broken up, and is it going to be stable or not?” Mr. Bakri said.

“Everyone is concentrating on who will be the luckiest in the coming elections.”

Mr. Bakri says he bases his predictions on a combination of zodiac signs and numbers derived from dates of birth. He carries with him a brown diary in which he has written the dates of birth and the derived numbers for more than 500 politicians and public figures.

Among the people who seek his advice are Iraqi politicians. Most, according to Mr. Bakri, are more worried about their own careers and positions than the situation in the country.

“I try to stay away from politicians because working with them is a waste of effort, time and dignity,” he said. “They take what they want. When they get the position that they are after they avoid you, and when they lose it they come to you and ask if they will be getting it back.”

Mr. Bakri claims that he predicted that the current minister of transportation would be promoted to ministerial rank, surprising him with the prediction three months before it happened.

On New Year’s Eve last year Michele Hayek, a renowned Lebanese clairvoyant, predicted that one of the Iraqi politicians who came to power after the Saddam Hussein era would pass away. More than eight months later one of the most senior Iraqi Shiite leaders, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, died.

As for the coming election, Mr. Bakri predicts that the strongest candidates will be former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Ahmad Chalabi and Mithal al-Alousi, even though Mr. Alousi did not do well in the provincial elections this year. And the current Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki? “I do not have his birth date,” the astrologer replied.

Because he works at the state-run television station, he says, the station’s management asked him to give more optimistic predictions to raise Iraqis’ morale. “I’m optimistic by nature, and I’m the most optimistic person about the future of Iraq,” he says he responded. He was also asked to support the government but replied diplomatically that the government did not need his services.

Asked why there is so much interest about signs for the future, he said, “People love the unknown, and mystery, and they like to have a share in it.”

Ali al-Bakri’s predictions for 2010
Iraq is going to have a good year on the economic front, because of a rise in oil prices. Also, Iraq will enjoy a more secure and stable year because its neighbors will have their own internal problems, and because its politicians will reach consensus.