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AMMAN (Reuters) - Sunni Arab fears that
Shi'ites would dominate Iraq after Jan. 30 elections
are unfounded because the ballot will be a first
step on the road to democracy, Iraq's foreign
minister said on Friday.
"I believe these fears about the Shi'ites are
exaggerated and misplaced," Hoshiyar Zebari told
Reuters in Amman.
Zebari said Iraq's majority Shi'ites deserved to
flex their muscles after years of political
exclusion under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-based rule.
"They had been marginalised and excluded from the
process and this is their chance really to
participate," said Zebari, himself a Kurd.
In a historic turnaround, the elections are almost
certain to produce a parliament dominated by Iraq's
majority Shi'ites that will choose a transitional
government and draft a constitution.
Iraq's second general elections by the end of the
year would be more decisive in shaping Iraq's
future, Zebari said.
"It is the second elections that will count in
December 2005. This (Jan. 30) election is not about
who is going to govern Iraq," he said.
The political arrangements since Saddam was toppled
in 2003 made it difficult for any group among Iraq's
ethnic mix to again monopolise power, said Zebari.
"The influence of any winning group over writing the
constitution and deciding the future of the country
is not total. There are checks and balances," he
added.
"A new, permanent constitution to be written should
have the consent of all the communities and be
written by consensus, not dictated by one group,"
Zebari said.
Zebari dismissed fears the election outcome could
worsen sectarian rifts and push Iraq toward civil
war.
"For a year or more we have heard that Iraq was
going to disintegrate and indulge in civil war and
fragment and none of that has happened. In my view
this election will consolidate national unity, not
fracture the country," he said.
Zebari said Western-style democracy taking place in
post-war Iraq was at stake if elections were
delayed, as demanded by many Sunni groups and
leaders.
"I think there should not be any delay or changes of
the timing, mainly because all the other steps in
the political process depend on those elections --
move a cornerstone of this political process and the
rest will collapse," he added.
Zebari said die-hard elements among the Sunni
minority that dominated Iraqi politics for eight
decades had to adjust.
"They have not been accustomed to being partners in
governing Iraq ... The reality of the new Iraq is
different from Saddam's Iraq. They have to grasp
this reality," Zebari added.
© Reuters 2005. All rights reserved.
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