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sabang · 07-02-2009, 10:02 AM

According to this analysis from the Asia Times, the Iraqi election results were a victory for secularism over religious fundamentalism and partisanship. The results will be seen as positive by the US and the West:-

The political re-birth of Nuri al-Maliki
By Sami Moubayed

DAMASCUS - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has emerged as the winner of provincial elections in Iraq that took place January 31. A total of 14,000 candidates competed for 440 seats in 18 provincial councils, and five were assassinated in the period preceding the elections.

Preliminary results were released on Thursday, while the final results are scheduled for announcement on February 22. Some Iraqis were thrilled by the results, while others sulked, having expected a smashing defeat for Maliki at the polls. For weeks, the Saudi Arabia-aligned Arab press had been saying that Maliki, whom such organizations consider an extension of Iranian influence in the Arab world, was politically finished.

They speculated that with US President Barack Obama in the White House, Maliki's honeymoon with the United States would come to an end by mid-2009. With no American support, observers claimed, he would be voted out of office by ordinary Iraqis in the provincial elections.

Many in the Arab world could not conceal their happiness at the prospect of his political demise. There was even gloating and claims that Maliki was a sectarian clown who, since coming to power in 2006, had advanced Shi'ite interests in Iraq, at the expense of Iraqi Sunnis. He had failed to bring security to Iraq or any kind of rapprochement between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Many saw Maliki as a stooge for both the US and Iran, who had transformed pockets of Iraq into a miniature theocracy, based on the Iranian model.

Preliminary results on February 5 proved them wrong. Maliki has been literally "re-born".

Maliki's team took Baghdad in a landslide victory, along with eight of the nine Shi'ite provinces in Iraq. By all accounts, this was a dramatic show of confidence in the prime minister. Additionally, these were the most peaceful elections Iraq had known since the Anglo-American invasion of 2003 - a fact noted by everybody, including Obama.

Over 50% of Iraqis came out to vote on July 31, signaling confidence in the security measures of the prime minister (lower nevertheless than the 55.7% of 2005). Maliki himself did not run for elections, but threw full weight behind his team, standing as the Coalition of Law and Order.

Although originating from a party that preaches political Islam, neither the prime minister nor any of his team campaigned on religious slogans, in an attempt to appeal to both Sunnis and Shi'ites. That secular move was warmly received by Iraqis, especially the youth, who seemed to be finally fed up with the sectarian violence that has been a constant threat since 2003. Many wanted a new political narrative, and strangely enough, the one to provide it was Maliki.

According to election results, Maliki's team won 38% of the votes in Baghdad and 37% in the oil-rich city of Basra. Maliki's allies in the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), who had relied heavily on religious slogans (as they did during the elections of 2005), were strikingly voted out of office in seven out of the 10 provinces they previously controlled.

The political bloc of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which also used religion in its campaign, was similarly defeated, with less than 30,000 votes in Basra, a city it had strongly controlled since 2003. Sadr's team are expected to get one or two seats in Basra, another major setback for religiously driven politicians. Secular parties scored better than expected, showing that voting for religious figures - the trend in 2005 - may now be fading away.

That was the most important outcome of the Iraqi elections: a visible reduction of religious loyalties and their replacement by pan-Iraqi ones. At one level, the results were a defeat for the SIIC while at another it was regarded as a major setback for Iran. Iran's relations with the SIIC date to the 1980s, when its militia, the Badr Brigade, was founded and armed by the Iranians to help fight the Iraqi army in 1980-1988. The SIIC's ailing leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is very close to the upper-echelons of power in Tehran and its defeat in such elections is no joke.

Full Article:- Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs

07-02-2009, 10:02 AM	#880 (permalink)
sabang Watching the Wheels Last Online: Today 07:17 AM Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: where the streets have no name Posts: 11,575	The political re-birth of Nuri al-Maliki According to this analysis from the Asia Times, the Iraqi election results were a victory for secularism over religious fundamentalism and partisanship. The results will be seen as positive by the US and the West:- The political re-birth of Nuri al-Maliki By Sami Moubayed DAMASCUS - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has emerged as the winner of provincial elections in Iraq that took place January 31. A total of 14,000 candidates competed for 440 seats in 18 provincial councils, and five were assassinated in the period preceding the elections. Preliminary results were released on Thursday, while the final results are scheduled for announcement on February 22. Some Iraqis were thrilled by the results, while others sulked, having expected a smashing defeat for Maliki at the polls. For weeks, the Saudi Arabia-aligned Arab press had been saying that Maliki, whom such organizations consider an extension of Iranian influence in the Arab world, was politically finished. They speculated that with US President Barack Obama in the White House, Maliki's honeymoon with the United States would come to an end by mid-2009. With no American support, observers claimed, he would be voted out of office by ordinary Iraqis in the provincial elections. Many in the Arab world could not conceal their happiness at the prospect of his political demise. There was even gloating and claims that Maliki was a sectarian clown who, since coming to power in 2006, had advanced Shi'ite interests in Iraq, at the expense of Iraqi Sunnis. He had failed to bring security to Iraq or any kind of rapprochement between Shi'ites and Sunnis. Many saw Maliki as a stooge for both the US and Iran, who had transformed pockets of Iraq into a miniature theocracy, based on the Iranian model. Preliminary results on February 5 proved them wrong. Maliki has been literally "re-born". Maliki's team took Baghdad in a landslide victory, along with eight of the nine Shi'ite provinces in Iraq. By all accounts, this was a dramatic show of confidence in the prime minister. Additionally, these were the most peaceful elections Iraq had known since the Anglo-American invasion of 2003 - a fact noted by everybody, including Obama. Over 50% of Iraqis came out to vote on July 31, signaling confidence in the security measures of the prime minister (lower nevertheless than the 55.7% of 2005). Maliki himself did not run for elections, but threw full weight behind his team, standing as the Coalition of Law and Order. Although originating from a party that preaches political Islam, neither the prime minister nor any of his team campaigned on religious slogans, in an attempt to appeal to both Sunnis and Shi'ites. That secular move was warmly received by Iraqis, especially the youth, who seemed to be finally fed up with the sectarian violence that has been a constant threat since 2003. Many wanted a new political narrative, and strangely enough, the one to provide it was Maliki. According to election results, Maliki's team won 38% of the votes in Baghdad and 37% in the oil-rich city of Basra. Maliki's allies in the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), who had relied heavily on religious slogans (as they did during the elections of 2005), were strikingly voted out of office in seven out of the 10 provinces they previously controlled. The political bloc of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which also used religion in its campaign, was similarly defeated, with less than 30,000 votes in Basra, a city it had strongly controlled since 2003. Sadr's team are expected to get one or two seats in Basra, another major setback for religiously driven politicians. Secular parties scored better than expected, showing that voting for religious figures - the trend in 2005 - may now be fading away. That was the most important outcome of the Iraqi elections: a visible reduction of religious loyalties and their replacement by pan-Iraqi ones. At one level, the results were a defeat for the SIIC while at another it was regarded as a major setback for Iran. Iran's relations with the SIIC date to the 1980s, when its militia, the Badr Brigade, was founded and armed by the Iranians to help fight the Iraqi army in 1980-1988. The SIIC's ailing leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is very close to the upper-echelons of power in Tehran and its defeat in such elections is no joke. Full Article:- Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs __________________ Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.