Iraq: Politics, Elections, and Benchmarks

Abstract

Iraq's political system, the result of a U.S.-supported election process, has been increasingly characterized by peaceful competition, as well as by attempts to form cross-sectarian alliances. However, ethnic and factional infighting continues, sometimes using key levers of power and seemingly undemocratic means. This was in evidence in the successful efforts by Shiite Arab political leaders to disqualify some prominent Sunni Arab candidates in the March 7, 2010, national elections for the Council of Representatives (COR, parliament), which will form the next government. Election-related violence occurred before and during the election, although not at levels of earlier years or at a level to significantly affect voting, except perhaps for Baghdad city. With all votes counted, the cross-sectarian "Iraqiyya" slate of former Prime Minister Iyad al-Allawi unexpectedly gained a plurality of 91 of the 325 COR seats up for election. Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's State of Law slate came in a close second, with two fewer seats, and a rival Shiite coalition was a distant third with 70. The main Kurdish parties, again allied, won 43. Allawi's slate had been expected to get the first opportunity to put together a majority coalition to form a government. However, Maliki and other Shiite parties-opposing what they claim is the mostly Sunni Arab base of the Allawi slate-are in extensive discussions to put together a coalition that would be able to determine the next government. To bolster his claim to remain prime minister, Maliki's slate requested, and a court agreed, to a recount of votes in crucial Baghdad province; Maliki hopes the recount will deprive Allawi's bloc of its plurality of seats. Another court's disqualification (on "de-Baathification" grounds) of one winning and 51 losing candidates will require a recalculation of seat allocations, presumably to Maliki's benefit.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 28, 2010
Accession Number
ADA519562

Entities

People

  • Kenneth Katzman

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Congress
  • Elections
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Governments
  • Intellectual Property
  • Law
  • Minority Groups
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Sectarian Violence
  • Security
  • Terrorists
  • United States

Readers

  • International Relations and Conflict Resolution
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.