Elections in Iraq are complicated but hold hope for a better tomorrow

Elections in Iraq are complicated but hold hope for a better tomorrow

In 2008, just over 131 million voters cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election, a turnout of 61.7 percent of the eligible voters.

Compare that to the weekend voter turnout in Iraq, where 62 percent of the registered voters went to the polls.

That is a remarkable number, given the challenges that faced Iraqi voters — from travel difficulties that kept some potential voters from faraway polling places to bombers ready and able to kill in an attempt to repress the outcome.

While we suffer no illusions about the purity of democracy in a nation still attempting to rebuild and where political parties and ethnic and religious differences can be used to appropriate power, this election is still provides hope. Insurgents killed 36 people Sunday.

The voting is over, but the results are not yet in, Iraq’s election commission says ballots are still being counted in parliamentary elections in which 6,200 candidates competed for 325 parliamentary seats.

And even after the voters are counted and the winners announced, establishing a parliamentary majority will not be easy. In the first elections five years ago, it was decided that there would be one prime minister, but three presidents one representing the Shiite majority and the others representing the Kurdish and Sunni minorities. The new constitution calls for just one president, meaning that minority interests will have to be assuaged with cabinet appointments. But the strong turnout showed that all elements of Iraqi political life participated in the elections, and unless there is a complete breakdown in the process, the resulting government will be able to claim democratic legitimacy.

That’s of importance to Americans because a relatively stable, sovereign Iraq is needed for the United States to meet its goals for pulling troops out of the country.

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said the success of the election holds promise for the peaceful formation of a new government and the withdrawal of more troops. Most of the roughly 96,000 troops in Iraq will remain there through May. Plans call for almost half of them to pull out between then and the beginning of September, when about 50,000 noncombat troops will be left. That’s the time schedule set by the Obama administration.

The Bush administration and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed in August 2008 that all U.S. troops should be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

That won’t be soon enough for some Americans. On the other hand, without a stable government in Baghdad it would be difficult to hit even that target.

So, Americans have more than one reason to applaud the elections and hope for quick and successful negotiations to establish a new government.