Middle East Focus-Arabia Deserta: Iraq Election Misconceptions and Illusions: Facts and Fatwas……………..

Arabia Deserta

Iraq Election Misconceptions and Illusions: Facts and Fatwas……………..

“Allawi, a British-trained surgeon who served as interim prime minister after the U.S.-led invasion, won the votes of many secular Shiites like himself and many more from the disaffected Sunni minority that lost power when Hussein was overthrown. But he has fewer options for forming a coalition government than does Maliki, who can reach out to other religious Shiite parties as well as to the Kurds, with whom he already is working in the current government. In our view, Maliki should ease up on the gamesmanship and focus instead on building peace and stability in Iraq. Many of the votes for Allawi were votes for a strong national government in Baghdad and against sectarianism. Whoever serves as prime minister must form an inclusive government and seek reconciliation among the ethnic and religious factions. It isn't enough just to govern Iraq. What's needed is leadership…….”

Western (US) media tend to interpret Iraq elections in their own terms. That is especially risky in Iraq, as it is in Lebanon (2009 elections). I wrote about that in an earlier post.

Repeat after me: in a parliamentarian system, the votes “for Allawi” were in fact NOT votes “for him”: they voted for Sunni candidates who were allied with Allawi because they probably were the only, or “the best”, ones available in some areas. It was still unfortunately sectarian, as sectarian as in 2005, Sunnis mostly voting for Sunnis, Shi’as mostly voting for Shi’as. Only the alliances of the candidates were with Allawi or with al-Maliki. The votes were NOT for Allawi or for al-Maliki. They did not necessarily “vote for a non-sectarian” regime: almost all Iraqis still voted along sectarian lines. Oh, and “British-trained” does not necessarily mean he is a democrat. My fatwa still stands: neither al-Maliki not Allawi. It will almost certainly be one of those nominated by Muqtada al-Sadr.
Cheers
mhg

Mon Email