Yasser Alaskary of the Iraqi Prospect Organisation is concerned that the US, at Colin Powell’s insistence, may place several Sunnis on the new National Assembly regardless of the voters’ selections. The reason?
- They claim to represent at least 53% of Iraq and so anything less than a majority in parliament will still be regarded as under-representation.
- The ordinary Sunni population will not feel any loyalty towards their ‘representatives’ as they will not have voted them in the very same cloud that hangs over the current interim government.
- Those who will be appointed under an enforced percentage will continue to be considered traitors and collaborators by the Arabic media, the Baath Party, and the Salafis – the three pillars constituting the insurgency.
On the other side…
Making up 65% of the population, Shias feel they were given the short end of the stick in the Governing Council and current government percentages, but despite this, they have been patient in awaiting the elections and allowing democracy to dictate Iraq’s future.
To be sure, we can anticipate pronouncements by such luminaries as Jimmy Carter that the election is somehow invalid. Some group, probably Sunni, will claim they don’t have sufficient representation in the new National Assembly. But projections are for some 84% of eligible Iraqis to vote. When the number is smaller than that due to intimidation in Sunni strongholds, who is to blame?
The US, of course.
And that is what the jihadists want. Ralph Peters has a good article, Osama’s Nightmare, on what this election really means in the Big Picture.
The only thing of which we may be certain is that our deadliest enemies are doing all they can to stop Iraq’s elections. It’s the one goal on which the various terrorist factions and insurgent groups agree. If we needed any further proof that our struggle against terror is about human freedom and the dignity of the common man and woman, our enemies are laying it in front of us.
With democracy breaking out all over, now is not the time to go wobbly and cede to demands by those removed from power. We must show strength of character and make sure the average Iraqi understands we are there to give him voice, not subvert it in favor of whiners around the world.
In yesterdays Iraq The Model blog, Mohammed wrote about the political parties and the fact that many of them had members of Sunni, Shiat, Kurdish, Christian and other minority groups. It seems there is no need to save space for Sunnis. In fact, I believe the brothers at ITM are Sunni.
Comment by Pat in NC — December 30, 2004 @ 3:06 pm