WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Support among Iraqis for the U.S.-appointed government in Baghdad has plunged since it was installed this summer, a U.S. survey released on Friday said.
The survey brought unwelcome news for the Bush administration as it fights to build stability before elections in January. It also indicated that Iraqis are most strongly influenced by their religious, rather than secular, leaders.
The survey, carried out at the end of September, showed popular support for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi dropped more than 20 percentage points since July. Washington formally handed sovereignty to Iraq at the end of June.
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Just over 45 percent of those surveyed said Allawi had been effective since taking office in June, down from over 66 percent in July, and support for his government plummeted from 62 percent to 43 percent over the same period.
The survey was carried out by the International Republican Institute, a government-funded body that promotes democracy around the world and which is helping oversee efforts to build political parties in Iraq.
It found religious leaders carry more political weight than tribal leaders, the government or political parties with potential Iraqi voters.
The Washington Post, reporting figures not publicly released by the institute, said the survey also found that the most popular politician in Iraq was Abdel Aziz Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Fifty-one percent said they want him in the national assembly, which will pick a new government.
Allawi was second, with 47 percent of Iraqis supporting him for a seat in the new parliament if elections were held now, and rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was a close third, with 46 percent, the newspaper said. An institute spokesman would not confirm the Post figures.
ISLAMIC POWER
President Bush said on Monday he would grudgingly accept an Islamic fundamentalist government in Iraq, if the Iraqi people voted to create one in free elections.
"I would be disappointed, but democracy is democracy," Bush said in an Associated Press interview, when asked whether Iraqis might prefer an Islamic government to secular rule. "If that's what the people choose, that's what the people choose."
Forty percent of respondents in the survey said a cleric's endorsement of a candidate would make them more inclined to vote for that candidate, a greater percentage than for political parties, tribal leaders and the government combined.
More than 45 percent of Iraqis believe their country is heading in the wrong direction, up from 31 percent 10 weeks ago; 55 percent do not believe the interim government represents their interests.
Bush, facing a tough re-election fight on Nov. 2, portrays the conflict in Iraq as part of the struggle against terrorism but Democratic challenger John Kerry condemns the prosecution of the war and says it was a distraction from the battle against terrorists.
A senior Bush administration official played down the survey results, saying much depends on how questions are framed and on the events of the day.
The official said the poll showed some "positive trends" and an "underlying optimism for the future." The official said 64.6 percent of those surveyed believe their lives will be better in the future.
The Bush administration plans to spend more than $30 million on strategic advice, training and polling data to what it deems "moderate and democratic" Iraqi political parties with candidates running in the country's upcoming elections.
