A Defining Election for Iraq

30 December 2009 | 17:34 Code : 6443 General category
Iraqi parliamentary election and arduous tasks of the next cabinet. By Mohammad Farazmand, Middle East affairs analyst
A Defining Election for Iraq
As Nouri Maleki had aptly stated after last year provincial elections in Iraq, the problem with the Iraqi democracy is its reliance on reconciliation. Concerns that smaller groups may be marginalized by more prominent parties, and the ration allotted to each party based on its political weight and population, have forced Iraqi legislators to limit the freedom of Iraqi voters in favor of political groups.

Based on the Iraqi electoral mechanism, votes are casted in favor of ‘closed lists’. Such lists limit the choices of voters and force them to vote for the whole gamut of candidates nominated by a political coalition. The veto right granted to the Presidency Council of Iraq –the Kurd president and his Sunni and Shiite deputies- is another problem. Each of the members of the council is entitled to veto bills if it threatens the interests of his representative group. Sunni Vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi wielded his veto right recently disapproving of the revised election law passed by the Iraqi parliament. Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s clever step –replacing closed lists with open lists and giving voters further options- has partially solved the problem.

With open lists available to voters, the coalitions between political parties have less impact on the result of elections and it is the Iraqi voter that determines the composition of the next parliament. However, the right of veto given to the Presidency Council is still a problem. Tariq al-Hashimi’s vetoing of the new election law aimed to bring the Sunni population of Iraq a bigger share of power. The stalemate created by his decision was finally broken with the parliament adding fifteen new seats.

2010 will be a defining year for Iraq. Parliamentary elections will be held in March and the results will determine which political group will form the next Iraqi government. Also, 2010 is the year in which American troops will fully withdraw from Iraq, as Barack Obama has promised. The next Iraqi government has to shoulder an arduous and should prepare Iraq for a new era.

The moot points between Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, such as the problem of Kirkuk and the disgruntlement of Iraq’s Arab neighbors with the democratization process of this country, cause one to worry about the political future of this country. Only one day after the new agreed-upon election law was ratified by the Presidency Council, chain explosions rocked the city of Baghdad. A clear message by terrorist groups: we have infiltrated the security forces. The terrorists are ready to go to the end to prove their ability in disturbing political agreements. These are the problems the future Iraqi government should face.

Prime Minister Nouri Maleki –whose alliance notched up a landslide victory in last year provincial election- is a constant source of worry for his opponents concerning them that he may regain the majority of votes in parliamentary poll. Maleki’s strong point is his success in establishing relative security for the Iraqi citizens. So there is no wonder that the focus of his rivals’ campaign is on questioning his true ability to secure peace for Iraq during his premiership term. As long as security remains a problem in Iraq, Persian Gulf states and global powers could not blink their eyes in peace.