"The U.S.-backed Allawi slate is getting only about a third of the votes so far against the Shiite slate, which of course is not what the American government wanted." I see no evidence the US is favoring one party over another. Nor do I think Sistani's coalition of parties presents a problem for the US.
It has been expected all along that the United Iraqi Alliance list supported by al Sistani will come out with more votes than any other.
It includes:
Islamic Dawa party (headed by Ibrahim Jaafari, one of the two vice-presidents under Allawi),
SCIRI ("based in Iran during Saddam's rule, but subsequently largely lost that patronage as the mullahs in Tehran frown on the Council's cooperation with the Americans"),
plus "another 20 political parties, groups and individuals, spanning the whole Shia political spectrum, from moderate to theocratic. The List includes Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress (INC), as well as Sunni (including the Al-Shammar tribe which also has Shia members), Kurdish, Yezidi, and Turkoman groups."
Also:
"A prominent member of the List is Dr. Hussein Al-Shahristani, an Iraqi nuclear scientist who was originally touted as the interim prime minister, before the job eventually went to Iyad Allawi. Al-Shaharistani was one of the six prominent figures chosen by Sistani to draw up the List."
chrenkoff.blogspot.com
I think it is very simplistic thinking to assume Iraq will become a theocratic state like Iran. The largest party coalition includes both religious and secular members. And minority parties will be represented in the Assembly which writes the country's new constitution. |
