Blogs > TAHIRI EXPOSES THE BIG LIE TOLD ABOUT THE IRAQI ELECTIONS

Feb 17, 2005

TAHIRI EXPOSES THE BIG LIE TOLD ABOUT THE IRAQI ELECTIONS



Poor, poor Sunnis. They made the naive mistake of boycotting the elections and now they are left in the cold. Isn't it tragic?!

No. They embarked on a strategy that failed. Now they should accept the consequences with dignity. If the elected officials feel magnanimous, they should be commended.

Now, comes Amir Taheri and exposes the big lie:

Based on their demographic strength, the Arab Sunnis should have 42 seats in the 275-seat transitional National Assembly. The final results show that the new assembly will have 49 Arab Sunnis sitting in it. Of these 40 were elected on the Shia-led and the Kurdish lists, plus the list headed by Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister. Five were elected on a list led by Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawer, the Arab Sunni interim President, while four more won within smaller alliances. If we add the Kurds, who are also Sunni Muslims, at least 110 members of the assembly are Sunnis.

In other words, the problem is not that Sunnis are not represented but that those who feel they are entitled to lead and should not have to subject themselves to the will of the electorate were left out.

Tough.If they want in, they better earn by using their supposed influence and turn in the terrorists who are murdering Iraqis and beheading those who attempt to help them. If they cannot, they have nothing to offer worth having.



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Judith Apter Klinghoffer - 2/18/2005

You may wish to read the comment I just posted from Al Ahram.


Jonathan Dresner - 2/17/2005

Very interesting stuff. I always felt that electoral boycotts were classic "cutting off your nose to spite your face" and this does undercut the ethnic representation argument considerably....