Posted on 10/25/2005 9:07:17 PM PDT by Valin
BAGHDAD, Oct 25: Iraqi voters ratified a new US-backed constitution despite bitter opposition in Sunni areas, results showed on Tuesday. Iraqs electoral commission, giving final results from the Oct 15 referendum, said 79 per cent of voters backed the constitution against 21 per cent opposed in a poll split largely along sectarian and ethnic lines.
Several Shia and Kurdish regions voted between 95 and 99 per cent Yes; in Sunni-dominated Anbar 97 per cent said No.
Prominent Sunni leaders rejected the referendum as a fraud, warning it could fuel militancy and discourage Sunnis from participating in future elections.
Iraqi and UN election officials said the vote, which was largely peaceful despite widespread fears of a surge in guerrilla attacks, was fair.
The referendums final results showed that only two of the countrys 18 provinces, the guerilla stronghold of Anbar in the west and Saddam Husseins home region of Salahaddin in the north, had mustered a No vote of at least two-thirds one short of the three provinces necessary to veto the measure.
The northern province of Nineveh, thought to represent a third possible No due to its large population of Sunnis, ended up with only 55 per cent of voters rejecting the charter.
Commission spokesman Farid Ayar rejected suggestions that results had been tampered with. We didnt invent these figures. It took us a long time to get them, he told a news conference.
DECEMBER ELECTIONS: Passage of the constitution is a boost for Washington and the Shia- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad, paving the way for a parliamentary election on Dec 15 that both hope will mark Iraqs emergence as a stable, federal democracy.
Politicians are racing to form the alliances that will shape the new parliament before a Friday deadline for parties and electoral coalitions to register for the elections.
Politics is linked directly to security on the ground. The situation can only get worse now, Hussein al Falluji, part of a Sunni team that negotiated the constitution, said, describing the results as a fraud.
Another Sunni politician, Saleh Mutlaq, said the vote could backfire on government efforts to defuse the resistance by persuading Sunnis they had no role in the political process.
A top UN election specialist, Carina Perelli, said she was confident the election had not been fixed. The result is accurate. It has been checked according to the processes that we all follow when we have elections.
But UN Secretary General Kofi Annans representative in Baghdad, Ashraf Qazi, said the poll once again demonstrated how dangerously polarized Iraq had become.
Both the United States and Britain have sought to ease Sunni fears by emphasizing that the constitution can be amended after a new parliament is elected an enticement for Sunni groups to field candidates and make their voices heard. Reuters
Democrats cry "Fraud."
the pakistani press played the margin of approval much higher in the story than the AP did. unsurprising.
Looks like Anbar needs to either accept the result peacefully or be brought into line by force. Win/win scenario, we either get what we want without fighting, or we get a good reason to put the hammer down on another fascist sect.
"how dangerously polarized Iraq had become." ?Iraq has been polarized since it was born after WWI ! It wascertainly polarized under Saddam, but all differences were concealed by the iron fist of the "unity" of his government. All we did was to take the lid off.
Actually, Sunni's have learned from their Dim counterparts and will filibuster these election results, as it takes a 1/5th minority to override a near 4/5th majority every time.
Sorry, Iraqi's .... 79% just don't cut it ....... /sarcasm off
Sunnis really have two choices:
1) Win assembly seats in December and make amends to constitution
2) Keep fighting
If they choose #2 at this juncture of the political process prior to December elections, the Shiites and Kurds won't be silent spectators any more. The hammer will come down.
So, either way, Sunnis will be brought back in line.
Let's not forget what is making the Sunnis so upset - they used to be able to exploit and dominate the Kurds and Shias. Now they're going to be just one of three groups sharing power in the new Iraq. They have to understand, or be made to understand, that there is no going back to their previous dominance.
Regards, Ivan
The MSM has lost it's mind by not thinking this is a huge story. I hate the MSM and pity any Conservative radio host who still has warm thoughts for anyone in the MSM.
When you lose a vote, declare it a fraud.
When you win and you win by a lot more than you expected, you do a recount and surprise... you really did win by that much.
But the losers still cry foul, and blow up buildings, and kill people who disagree with them.
We're so close to having Leftist extremists in our country taking that dangerous step toward terrorism. Two more failures in the elections and we'll probably start to see the first stirrings of home grown terrorists in opposition to Republicans. We've already had GOP offices shot at, personnel attacked, and get out the vote vehicles vandalized. And these by the Main Stream Left, of which there are at least 20% of the total voting population who qualify for that label.
And sadly, these are the people the Democrat leadership looks to as their base. Our conservative base, as odd as the further-out-there-right-wingers may be, is no where near that desperate or hate filled. I would entrust my life to a Far Right Christian American fundamentalist because I know that that person's creed includes my right to believe differently, so long as I don't strive to impose my differing opinions on them.
The Left has no such safety valve. There is no tolerance for conservatism. We view the Left with contempt. They view us with deep seated paranoia, suspicion, and hate. When they break the law in order to go after us, they justify their actions because they believe that we're doing the same things. When they register dead people to vote and try to fix votes, they believe that we're out there trying to do the same thing. We're not, but that's besides the point. It is what they believe and it is why the radical Left is such a big danger to our country. What they believe and reality differ so greatly that reason and rationality cannot penetrate their haze.
All we can do is continue to try and win elections and keep these people out of power, because if we don't... we risk ending up like Europe, but much worse. Over there the Radicals aren't in charge. Over there, they just think they are. In this country, the radicals are closer to power than ever before. They had a taste in Bill Clinton, and they want more.
Step lightly, carry a big stick... and pray to God that the swing voters see through the MSM.
the pakistani press played the margin of approval much higher in the story than the AP did. unsurprising.
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The earthquake aid has made the US more popular in Pakistan than with the MSM. It was equal before the earthquake and resultant US aid.
Sunnis really have two choices:
1) Win assembly seats in December and make amends to constitution
2) Keep fighting
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