In a ploy that has been condemned by opposition groups as the “mother of all election frauds”, Saddam is staging a referendum next Tuesday in an attempt to legitimise his iron rule.

Nearly 11.5 million voters in this country of 23 million people will be asked to answer “yes” or “no” to one simple question: do you agree that Saddam should remain President? In a similar exercise seven years ago, Saddam, who seized power in 1969, won 99.89 per cent of the votes cast. Voters had to write their names on their ballot papers and voted under the gaze of election officials. There were reports of reluctant Iraqis being threatened if they failed to vote.

Despite the inevitability of Saddam’s victory, his ruling Baath Party is taking the referendum seriously. It has a slogan: “Yes, Yes to Our Beloved Leader, Saddam Hussein.” Election posters bear Saddam’s smiling face and a message proclaiming that the leader’s heart beats as one with his people.

Party officials have chosen the Whitney Houston song I Will Always Love You as the campaign theme tune. The song accompanies the dawn-to-dusk election broadcasts on the three state-controlled television stations, which feature almost continuous footage of Saddam. He is shown praying, kissing children, firing an ancient rifle one-handed, waving to the masses and striking heroic poses.

Saddam has a different costume for each scenario — the man-about-town in his black leather trilby, the Iraqi warrior in his army beret and green fatigues, the Arab statesman in his black-and-white keffiyeh.

The first spontaneous demonstration of Kalashnikov-waving followers took place in Baghdad last Monday, with advance warnings from the Ministry of Information to make sure that the media did not miss the event.

The next day, at a hospital, Saddam’s supporters used their own blood to write the campaign slogan on enormous white banners.

One of the country’s best-loved sculptors has been working around the clock to complete a series of bronze statues of the dictator before referendum day.

Khalil Khamis Farhan, 42, has produced a Saddam statue every six months since the Gulf War in 1991. This year he is expected to produce no fewer than nine statues, the largest standing 26ft high.

Some Western diplomats believe that the referendum is designed to demonstrate that Saddam’s position is unassailable. “It may be a charade, but it may also make one or two senior people think twice before even considering the coup option,” one said.

Ordinary Iraqis know that their only option will be to vote for Saddam. “Of course I will vote for the President,” Delair Ali, a Kurd hawking cheap towels, said. “I will be prepared to make my mark in my own blood, and if America strikes, I will be a sword in Saddam’s hand.”

Another trader, too frightened to give his name, simply shrugged, stared at his feet, and asked: “What would you do?” The irony is that referendums like this were pioneered by the British.

In August 1921, after the Middle East had been carved up between the victorious First World War powers, Britain rewarded Hussein ibn Ali, the Sherif of Mecca and an ally in the war against the Turks, by installing his son Faisal on the Iraqi throne.

Sayyid Taleb, a popular opposition leader who was campaigning under the apparently impertinent slogan of “Iraq for the Iraqis”, was invited for tea at the High Commissioner’s residence, where he was promptly arrested and sent into exile in Ceylon.

With hundreds of dissidents safely behind bars, British colonial officials then arranged a referendum in which Faisal scored an impressive 96 per cent of the vote.

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