The Democratic Process In Iraq…
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Elections, The War On Terrorism, War…is proving messy.
From the NY Times:
Baghdad, IRAQ, Dec. 25 – Sunni Arab political leaders asked the main Shiite political block today to give them 10 Shiite seats in the new parliament in an early attempt to defuse tensions over the results of last week’s election. The Shiites refused the request.
Why are the Sunnis so angry? Well, they feel they were shortchanged in the recent elections since they feel that there are far more of them then Shiites in the Baghdad. But the census hasn’t been taken in that city for quite a while, so they could be operating off of some unreliable numbers…
Sunni Arabs have expressed anger over what they say was widespread fraud in the election, and the move by the Sunni block, the largest group of Sunni parties, which is known as the Iraqi Consensus Front, was an effort to prevent a looming deadlock that could lead to months of delays over forming a new government and fuel the insurgency.Demonstrations over the results by Sunni Arabs have broken out in several Iraqi cities, including two today in Baquba, a city north of Baghdad and Falluja to the west. A police official in Baquba said by telephone that insurgents clashed with the police after the protest, leaving four police officers dead and 15 wounded. Shiites also demonstrated today in a Baghdad slum in a show of support for the Shiite alliance.
And these concerns are not without their casualties…
In all, at least 17 people were killed in violence across Iraq today, including one American soldier, whose vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad, the military said.Also today, the Islamic militant group, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, claimed to have killed three Arab women and one Arab man who worked for the American authorities in Iraq in a posting on an Internet site. The posting said the four had worked in the Green Zone, the fortified command compound, and included photographs of them. It was unclear if the women mentioned were the same ones who were abducted near the compound after leaving work there last week.
Interesting times. ..
So I guess this proves out the reality that fledgling democracies are extremely violatile in their early years, and Muslim democracies are certainly no different. But does that mean Iraq’s new system will succeed?
Personally, I have my doubts, but I do hope it moves forward in a positive fashion. I don’t want civil war to break out there. That would be extremely damaging to the country’s hope for freedom…and our credibility. And yes, our country’s credibility is of utmost importance to me since I think it’s essential to our long term success in the WOT.
In any event…it’s still wait-and-see for these elections.
What are your predictions?
This entry was posted on Monday, December 26th, 2005 and is filed under Elections, The War On Terrorism, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 26th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
You have to wonder why the Iraqi court disqualified 185 Sunni candidates AFTER the election was held, thereby invalidating untold ballots cast by Sunnis!!
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13476434.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
An Iraqi court has ruled that some of the most prominent Sunni Muslims who were elected to parliament last week won’t be allowed to serve because officials suspect that they were high-ranking members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.
Knight Ridder has obtained a copy of the court ruling, which has yet to be circulated to the public.
The ruling is likely to dampen Bush administration hopes that the election would bring more of the disaffected Sunni minority into Iraq’s political process and undermine Sunni support for the insurgency. Instead, the decision is likely to stoke fears of widening sectarian divisions in a nation already in danger of descending into civil war.
Adil al-Lami, the chief electoral official of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, told Knight Ridder that he would honor the court’s decision and that none of the accused Sunnis would appear on the final list of parliament members.
…
On Friday, thousands of Sunnis demonstrated in Baghdad, charging that the election was rigged in favor of the majority Shiite Muslims. The demonstration wasn’t a reaction to the court decision because the Iraqi people hadn’t learned of it.
Just wait ’til they do learn they voted for nothing!!
December 27th, 2005 at 12:18 pm
Looks like that’s your answer. As far as why they disqualified them after the election instead of before…. maybe they are a little disorganized and behind, just like American courts.
December 27th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
And it looks like cooler heads are once again prevailing in the Iraqi government. Al-Sadr isn’t getting his man Jafari as PM. SCIRI has instead nominated Aadil Abdulmahdi, who is much more palatable to the Sunnis.
How do these Iraqis keep defying the odds and resisting the irresistible plunge into chaos? How can they repeatedly show themselves to be so competent, so pro-Iraqi? I’m sure Juan Cole et al are mystified.