Politics, Mesopotamian Style
Boy soldiers. The next several months will determine if such boys will grow up remembering guns as toys or as a means to remedy their grievances. Important Sunni demands for positions in the government and for changes in the Constitution will have to be taken seriously by the Shiites and Kurds if a functioning, inclusive government is to emerge from the current tumult. "I'm trying to be optimistic," said Ayad al-Samarraie, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party, one of the three groups that make up the leading list of Sunni candidates. "We don't want to see one party dominate the government and become the [only] real ruler. We think everyone should be real partners."
Patience will be as important as optimism for a partnership as the groups begin what will be a long road ahead. The Council of Representatives must meet and choose a speaker within a month of the certification of the election results. After that, the council must choose a president and two deputies--but without a clear deadline those negotiations could drag out, as they will most likely include talks about who will be prime minister and who will run ministries as members of the cabinet.
After the government is formed, talks are supposed to begin on revising elements of the Constitution, the top priority for Sunnis, who overwhelmingly rejected the document in the October referendum. The Sunnis agreed not to boycott the December 15 vote only after a political deal provided a special four-month window for changing the Constitution. Still, the Shiites, set to dominate the new parliament, will control what, if any, revisions are made. Only after that will the final status of the Sunnis' role in the future governance of Iraq be clear.
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