|
Although
the Shia-dominated bloc got nearly half the vote, it
still needs allies to prevent deadlock in
parliament.
The Shia-dominated United Iraqi Alliance is looking
around for coalition partners after it won nearly
half the vote in Iraq's national elections.
Both Shia and Kurdish groups - the other main winner
- say they are looking
for ways to include the Sunnis in the political
process.
The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq
announced on February 13 that the Alliance, which
was organised at the behest of the country's senior
Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
received more than four million votes - 48 per cent
of the 8.4 million ballots cast.
As expected, this figure - high though it is - does
not give the bloc the two-thirds majority it would
need to govern without a coalition partner.
Mofaq Rubai, one of the United Iraqi Alliance's
candidates, described the results as a "feast" which
gave "a reason for Iraqis to celebrate from
Kurdistan to Basra".
"The power now lies in the hands of the people, and
the 275 members of parliament will decide Iraq's
destiny," he said.
The results are still provisional, as parties and
candidates have three days to file complaints or
appeal against the results before the outcome can be
regarded as official.
The Kurdish Alliance List, made up of the two major
Kurdish parties, came in second with 26 per cent of
the vote, or more than 2.17 million ballots. This
virtually assures the Kurds of a top government
post.
In Sulaimaniyah, one of the regional capitals of
Iraqi Kurdistan, residents celebrated the results by
firing into the air.
"The results are very good and it strengthens the
Kurdish position so that it corresponds with the
situation in Iraq," said Nawsheerwan Mustafa, a
political bureau member of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, PUK, one of the main Kurdish parties in
the Alliance.
The results mean that the Shias and Kurds, two
groups that were oppressed under Saddam Hussein,
will now hold the balance of power.
In third place was the Iraqi List, led by interim
prime minister Ayad Allawi, which received more than
1.16 million ballots, 13.8 per cent of the vote,.
Allawi has presented himself as the secular Shia
alternative to the United Iraqi Alliance.
Raja al-Khazay, a candidate on the Iraqi List, said
the results were disappointing. "There are a lot of
good politicians who won't get seats in parliament,"
she said.
Each bloc list or party will be awarded seats in the
275-member transitional National Assembly in
approximate proportion to its share of the national
vote. That means the United Iraqi Alliance will get
at least 132 seats, the Kurds 71 or more, and the
Iraqi List at least 38 seats.
A two-thirds majority, or 183 seats, is needed to
approve crucial issues before the National Assembly,
including the approval of a prime minister and of a
draft constitution, which will be the parliaments
main duty.
Under the interim constitution, the National
Assembly has to appoint a president and two
vice-presidents. In turn, the president and his
deputies will choose a party or coalition to
nominate a prime minister and form a government. The
assembly also has to approve the cabinet.
Although the final results have only just been
announced, parties and coalitions have been angling
for positions in the new government since the
January 30 election. In the last two weeks, the main
Shia, Kurdish and Sunni parties have been meeting to
hammer out deals.
The United Iraqi Alliance says it wants the post of
prime minister, and has suggested current finance
minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and vice-president Ibrahim
Jaafari as candidates for the job. The two men
belong to the two main Shia political forces - Mahdi
is from the Supreme Council of the Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, while Jaafari belongs to the
Islamic Dawa Party.
"There is no competition between the parties but
there are negotiations,"
said Rubai. "The issue is not individuals, but
politics and strategies. So the strategy for the new
Iraq is a federal and united Iraq that covers
everybody."
Meanwhile, the Kurdish Alliance List has been
pushing for PUK leader Jalal Talabani to be
president. The PUK controls the eastern part of
Iraqi Kurdistan while the Kurdistan Democratic
Party, the KDP, reigns over the western portion.
Al-Khazay said the Iraqi List would try to maximise
its position by forming coalitions with the Kurds,
with al-Iraqiyun ("the Iraqis"), a Sunni party
headed by interim President Ghazi al-Yawar, and with
the People's Union, a bloc whose principal
constituent is the Iraqi Communist Party.
Al-Iraqiyun is set to receive about five seats,
while the People's Union should get two.
Of the estimated 14 million eligible voters, around
60 per cent turned out for the elections.
But, as expected, many Sunni Arabs stayed at home
either to boycott the vote or out of fear.
Turnout for the Sunni Arab community, which accounts
for about a fifth of Iraq's population, was much
lower than the average. In the western province of
Anbar, the mainly Sunni province where the volatile
cities of Fallujah and Ramadi are located, only two
per cent of voters came to the polls.
Turnout in the northern province of Ninewa, which
includes the troubled city of Mosul, was about 17
per cent for the National Assembly ballot (separate
provincial elections were held across Iraq the same
day).
Mishan al-Jabouri, head of the Liberation and
Reconciliation Front, a secular Sunni party, said he
was not satisfied with the election results.
His party received more than 30,000 votes, which
should translate into one parliamentary seat.
"These votes do not represent the people's will,"
said al-Jabouri. "These are fake elections, which
produced this abnormal result."
Both the Kurds and the Shias say they want the Sunni
Arabs to be represented in the new political set-up.
It has been suggested that the one of the top
positions - that of speaker of parliament - could go
to the Sunnis.
Rubai, of the United Iraqi Alliance, said the Sunnis
could not be left out or marginalised, because as
such a significant part of the population, they have
a major role to play in establishing the state.
Zaineb Naji and Talar Nadir are IWPR trainee
reporters in Iraq.
www.iwpr.net
Top |
® 