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January 24, 2005
Iraq's new leaders will likely be secular
Topics: Middle East News and PerspectivesIn spite of the violence in Iraq, the slow crawl towards democracy seems to be inching ever-forward. Today several small but significant signs emerged that even with the inter-tribal rivalries, the crazy mixed-up religious squables, the non-stop violence, and a political process that has yet to be even conceived - much less delivered(the upcoming elections are just the begining of the process of electing a Prime Minister) - the Muslims of Iraq want a democratic government.
The two important and favorable signs for the U.S. and the West are that there are new indications by prominent Sunnis that they want to become involved in the election proces - although after the elections, and that Shiite groups that are poised to capture the most votes in the election next Sunday have agreed that the next prime minister will be a lay person and not an Islamic cleric. They appear to be rejecting the Iran model. Let's take a look at these articles for a better view of these signs of 'creeping progress.'
- International Herald Tribune
Sunni Arab leaders who have been the most vocal in calling for a boycott or postponement of the coming elections say they intend to get involved in legitimate politics after the vote, including taking part in writing a permanent constitution. .
The stakes are too high, with the constitution to be drafted by August 2005 and full-term elections held by year's end, for Sunni groups to reject the political process, the leaders say, even if they are sticking to their denunciation of Sunday's voting. . This talk by prominent Sunnis is the most positive sign yet that there is a chance they will still buy into the political process, potentially bolstering the beleaguered American effort to plant democracy in the Middle East. . . Continue reading...
-Startribune.com, by Dexter Filkins, New York Times
With Iraq's Shiite Muslims on the brink of capturing power for the first time, their political leaders say they have decided to relegate Islam to a supporting role as they form the new Iraqi government.
The senior leaders of the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of mostly Shiite groups that is poised to capture the most votes in the election next Sunday, have agreed that the Iraqi whom they nominate to be the country's next prime minister would be a lay person and not an Islamic cleric.
The Shiite leaders say there is a similar but less formal agreement that clerics will also be excluded from running the government ministries.
"There will be no turbans in the government," said Adnan Ali, a senior leader of the Dawa Party, one of the largest Shiite parties. "Everyone agrees on that."
The decision appears to formalize the growing dominance of secular leaders among the Shiite political leadership. It also reflects an inclination by the country's powerful religious hierarchy to stay out of the day-to-day governing of the country. Among the Shiite coalition's 228 candidates for the National Assembly, fewer than six are clerics, according to the group's leaders. The five Shiites most likely to be named prime minister are well-known secular figures.
Shiite leaders say their decision to move away from an Islamist government was largely shaped by the fact that the Iraqi people would reject such a model. But they concede that it also reflects certain political realities: U.S. officials, who wield vast influence in Iraq, would be troubled by an overtly Islamist government. So would the Kurds, who Iraqi and U.S. officials worry might be tempted to break with the Iraqi state.
The emerging policies appear to be a rejection of an .
The conviction that the Iranian model should be avoided in Iraq is apparently shared by the Iranians themselves. One Iraqi Shiite leader, who recently traveled to Tehran, said he was warned by the Iranians themselves against putting clerics in the government. Source
As I said, creeping progress but it looks like the Sunnis are begining to come around and it seems that we might luck-out by not having another Iran in the Middle East.
Hat tip to Protein Wisdom who has additional commentary.
Posted by Hyscience at January 24, 2005 10:32 PM
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