Iraq’s Marja’ya Drops Out of the Race……..
“Iraq's Shiite religious elite have refused to back any of the country's political factions in the run-up to elections next month, highlighting a stark political split in Iraq's majority community. The lack of an endorsement from the Marjaia, four deeply-respected scholars who live in the holy city of Najaf, is in marked contrast to their stance in Iraq's last parliamentary elections in 2005, when they backed the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the main Shiite bloc and the current ruling coalition. That alliance has since split largely into two competing mostly-Shiite groupings -- incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), built around the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and the bloc loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The UIA's split has for the first time presented Iraq's Shiite voters, who make up around 60 percent of the country's population, with a serious choice between parties that purport to represent their community…….” At the same time, however, it has made any religious stamp of approval for either bloc difficult, given the Iraqi religious elite's tradition of taking an advisory role, in contrast to the more active role in government for religious scholars in Iran…………….”
In another major OPEC country, to the southwest of Iraq, the Wahhabi religious shaikhs would have no hesitation about endorsing. And who do you think they would endorse? But I am getting ahead of things: they haven’t started the election campaign in the kingdom. Not yet.
Cheers
mhg
Mon Email
Comments