Baghdad - Election systems very often confirm the proverb that God - or the Devil - is in the details. For the elections to 14 of Iraq's 18 Provincial Councils due to take place on January 31, a so-called "open-list proportional representation" system has been chosen.

Proportional representation (PR) attempts to allocate seats in a legislature with as much correlation as possible to the votes that the political parties or candidates actually receive, thereby - theoretically - ensuring true democratic representation.

Baghdad - Key Iraqi political leaders

Nuri al-Maliki Iraq's Prime Minister and secretary-general of the Daawa party, al-Maliki's political career began as a Shiite dissident under the regime of Saddam Hussein. He fled the country fearing assassination in 1979 and served the Daawa party in exile in Syria and Iran until Saddam's ouster in 2003. Since becoming prime minister in May 2006, al-Maliki (58) has strengthened Iraq's central government and security forces, at times being accused of strongarm tactics.

Baghdad - In 1980, while Mouein al-Qatimy was still a student in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein executed his two brothers. They had refused to join the former dictator's Iraqi Baath Party.

Mouein was told that he was next.

"From that day the security forces started to follow me. They told me 'your destiny will be like them' if you don't conform," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"The old regime did not give any room for opposition in Iraq," he said.

Mouein fled Iraq and lived in exile for more than 20 years.

Baghdad - A selection of key provinces in the Iraqi provincial council elections, due to take place on January 31.

Baghdad The capital of Iraq and a city of some 6.5 million people, Baghdad has been the focus of the five-year war, and scene of some of the worst sectarian atrocities. Its demographic make-up has shifted as a result. Ongoing security worries threaten to tarnish the vote. The key contest will be between candidates aligned with Sunni tribal councils, and the Iraqi Islamic Party, which is currently in government, especially in the city's western suburbs.

Washington - The elections in Iraq on January 31 are the first of three this year that will be critical for evaluating the country's stability and determining how quickly US President Barack Obama can move forward on a campaign promise to order larger withdrawals of combat troops.

Iraqis are set to cast ballots in provincial elections followed later this year by local and then national elections in what is seen as a test of political reconciliation especially between rival Shiite and Sunni populations.

Baghdad - The Iraq of 2009 presents a kaleidoscope of shifting political, ethnic and tribal allegiances that is a few steps from either the beginnings of a stable democratic nation or a return to sectarian slaughter. The provincial council elections of January 31 will be a vital indicator of the direction that the country will take.

Ahead of the polls, the dpa English Services will report with special in-depth coverage from Iraq, in a package scheduled to run on Tuesday, January 27 at 0500 GMT.