TOPDOG08.COM

« Looking back | Main | Obviously the problem is the solution »

December 01, 2004

One party rule for Iraq, too?

I guess Republicans aren't the only ones who like the idea. The Shiites have combined SCIRI, Dawa, and even Al Sadr into a single slate of candidates to be voted for all under a single box. Granted they will still be representing different factions, but they will all be under the same official "party" voting line. I like the fact that Iraq is using proportional representation, but with only a single dominant party, so dominant they are even including Kurds and Sunnis on their list, what is the point of even voting if a vast majority of votes will be for "what has been dubbed the Sistani list" and that list has been decided before the fact to include members from all the different parties? Why not let each party run separately and see how many votes they actually receive? I guess the fear is that the result could be too lopsided, but it will be interesting to see what happens now. This paragraph, in particular, caught my eye. Earlier this year, Allawi's popularity rivaled Al Hakim. Apparently, no more:

A glaring omission from the slate, which is yet to be named, but which is not expected to refer to the Shia faith in its title, is the Iraqi National Accord, headed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

But the rest of the article is interesting as well:

Iraq's elections, scheduled for Jan. 30, will be conducted as if the country were a single electoral constituency.

Parties or coalitions will present lists of candidates for a 275-seat national assembly. Seats will be filled from the lists in relation to the number of votes received across the country.

The elected assembly will then oversee the writing of a new constitution and the organising of full democratic elections before the end of 2005.

Shahristani, a former nuclear scientist who was jailed under Saddam and was a candidate to become Iraq's interim prime minister, said several Sunni tribes had joined the list, as well as Kurds and groups from the Turkish-speaking Turkomen minority.

"There are also many independents," said Shahristani, who rejected claims that Sistani had vetted and needed to approve the list, but said the cleric had been consulted regularly.

Well, with Sistani's support, this list is going to define the future of Iraq. As opposed to a cliffhanger, this election's results will be decided once the list is released, well before any votes are cast.

Posted by Mike at December 1, 2004 02:21 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.topdog08.com/cgi-bin/mt-trackback.cgi/552

Comments

Post a comment