LONDON (AFP)
Muslim voters have emerged as a key battleground in London's mayoral elections this week, the first chance for most to vote since the 2005 suicide bombings by Islamic extremists in the city.
The knife-edge vote Thursday pitches veteran Labour left-winger Ken Livingstone -- the incumbent backed by prominent Muslim umbrella groups -- against Boris Johnson of the main opposition Conservatives, who boasts a Turkish grandfather.
Livingstone has previously had the Muslim vote sewn up thanks to, for example, his anti-Iraq war stance and the welcome he gave top Islamic scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who some accuse of anti-Semitism and homophobia, in 2004.
Johnson, meanwhile, has had to defend himself against claims of Islamophobia after writing that "Islam is the problem" in the wake of the London attacks, which killed 52 people, and raising concerns about immigration.
Local Muslim Conservative councilor Atiq Malik, who was handing out flyers at Harrow mosque in north-west London, said he believed Johnson had a good chance to capture Muslim votes, despite claims of his Islamophobia.
"I don't want religion being invaded by politics -- let's discuss the issues," he said, citing crime and concerns over the loss of the city's green spaces to developers as voters' main concerns.
Malik -- an unusual figure within the traditionally white-dominated Conservatives -- said he thought the Muslim vote would "make a hell of a lot of difference", particularly among first-time and young voters.
"Since 9/11, they are more active now," he said.
Some suggest that Muslims' voting habits could be starting to change.
"All the statistics say Livingstone is likely to get more of the ethnic minority votes (but) Labour's advantage in this sphere is declining," said Tony Travers of the London School of Economics.
"As earlier migrants have lived in Britain longer and longer, they're likely to drift off towards mainstream political behavior."
Like several boroughs on the outskirts of London, Harrow has a high number of mainly south Asian Muslim voters -- around 15 percent, according to Raabani, compared to nearly 10 percent in London overall. |
