By John Daniszweski
Los Angeles Times, 14 February 2005
BAGHDAD — The lopsided victory by Iraq's Shiite Muslim alliance gives it the biggest voice in shaping the nation's new government and constitution. But at the moment of their triumph, Shiite leaders have decided to accentuate moderation and inclusiveness to win over their political rivals.
The need to defeat the insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and almost paralyzed reconstruction, along with checks negotiated into the transitional law, will keep the Shiites from moves that would offend other groups, such as trying to impose Islamic law, politicians here say.
The Shiite alliance, tacitly backed by the nation's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, is likely to control a slim majority in the new 275-seat national assembly, whereas Sunni Muslim Arabs won perhaps seven spots. As a result, some people fear that Iraq's Shiite clerics will be tempted to emulate Shiite mullahs in neighboring Iran and push for an Islamic republic.
But if one listens to what the Shiite slate has been saying, there has been a reassuring consistency: Its members are not bent on dominating the political scene, even though Shiites are a majority in Iraq and were long repressed under Saddam Hussein. Rather, they want to cooperate with Iraq's minority groups, including Sunni Arabs, favored under Hussein, and ethnic Kurds, most of whom are also Sunni.
Abdelaziz Hakim, leader of the slate, has pledged a "government of national unity." Talks with minority groups have been going on in some detail, said Mowaffak Rubaie, the country's national security advisor and a leading voice in the new alliance of Shiites.
Instead of trying to cobble together enough allies to form a strong parliamentary majority to ram through legislation, he said, the slate is seeking to create a government that would include all, or as many as possible, of the 12 electoral slates that won seats in the assembly — plus some Sunni groups that did not participate.
And instead of grabbing all the best government ministries for itself, it is considering using a complex point system that would give weight to each of the main political, religious and ethnic groups.
For instance, if a government minister is a Shiite, his or her two deputies might be a Kurd and a Sunni, and their assistants might be Turkmen or Christian, he said.
Although drawing a line at appeasing former Baathists or extremists who have committed crimes against the Iraqi people, and promising an early drive to cleanse the Iraqi security forces of infiltrators, he said the new government would be "one of the most inclusive, and certainly the most representative government in the history of Iraq."
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Citation: John Daniszweski. "Shiites Walk Softly in New Landscape," Los Angeles Times, 14 February 2005.
Original URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-analysis14feb14,1,1773238,print.story?coll=la-iraq-complete&ctrack=2&cset=true
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