Posted on 06/05/2004 12:06:40 AM PDT by ambrose
JUNE 4, 2004
Iraqis greet new govt with joy
The all-Iraqi line-up of lawmakers brings forth gush of national pride to the people of the occupied, war-torn country
By Borzou Daragahi
BAGHDAD - Mr Mohaned Hossein and his fellow workers watched the announcement of the new Iraqi government on television at their appliance shop.
Their joyous reaction surprised even themselves.
'The moment they declared the president it was just spontaneous,' he recalled. 'We clapped our hands. We cheered.'
Following more than 13 months of foreign occupation, the sight of a new president, prime minister and Cabinet composed entirely of Iraqis brought an unexpected gush of national pride to sullen people.
Many Iraqis and analysts say they hope a government with more legitimacy will be able to quell the violence, managing to convince enough Iraqis opposed to the new order to quit taking up arms against occupation forces and their local partners or tolerating those who do.
Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani, gave his tacit endorsement to the new interim government yesterday although he said it lacked the 'legitimacy of elections' and did not represent all sections of Iraqi society.
But as Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations troubleshooter sent here to help build the government, put it on Tuesday: 'Security and stability cannot be achieved with weapons alone.'
Iraqis will begin to accept the new government if it delivers on services by bolstering security and the nation's flagging economy, experts say.
The new government - including leaders from the Governing Council assembled last summer as well as new faces chosen by Mr Brahimi - has a small window of opportunity to solidify its ties with the Iraqis in time for elections early next year.
'Legally, there was no legitimacy for the Governing Council or even for the president and the prime minister,' said Prof Suhal Asawi, a professor of political science at Baghdad University.
'But there is a kind of acceptance of mechanism. It's the only choice until elections. People do not completely agree on the legitimacy of the political process but they'll accept it temporarily.'
The biggest challenge for gaining legitimacy is that authority over Iraq's security and finances remains mired in the fog between the US occupation authority and the incoming Cabinet.
'It's a very vague situation,' said Mr Salahaddin Bahauddin, a member of the now-dissolved Governing Council who will serve on a commission to begin the process of creating a parliament.
'We don't have any information or details about certain key ministries. The Iraqis are still not near ready to take over the security file. The Iraqis still know nothing about the economy or financial details.'
The profiles of each minister - who they are and what Iraqi interests they represent - also play a role in determining the legitimacy of the future government. The naming of a former CIA operative and Baathist Iyad Allawi as prime minister stunned many Iraqis, for example.
But Iraqis were more approving of interim President Ghazi Al-Yawar, a leader of Iraq's Shamar tribe.
'We've known of the Yawar family for a very long time,' said taxi driver Taleb Raedi Jassem.
'We're familiar with his father and his grandfathers.'
In the few weeks before the Iraqi government formally takes control of Iraq, it must find new office space and staff its ministries. Many of those who will take posts at ministries are strangers to Iraqis, and they will have to introduce themselves to the civil servants who work under them and the citizenry they serve.
'We don't know who most of them are,' said Mr Raja Khuzai, another member of the Governing Council serving on the legislative commission. 'Most of them have foreign passports.'
In the new government's favour, most Iraqis are war-weary and though cynical about the motives of the US-led occupation and its Iraqi subordinates, appear ready to give the new government a chance.
Prof Nabil Mohammad Salim, head of Asian Studies at Baghdad's International Studies Centre, said the new government could bolster itself in the eyes of Iraqis by quickly implementing the majority's views.
'They must work hard to end the occupation status as soon as possible,' he said. 'They must represent the will of the Iraqi people and not any other people.'
Mr Brahimi promoted the idea of a Cabinet composed of patriotic technocrats who had toughed it out in the country rather than living in exile as a way of conferring the new Iraqi government with legitimacy. He wanted a caretaker government of technocrats to hold the country together until elections next year.
Ironically, according to a senior occupation authority official, security woes kept Mr Brahimi from really fulfilling his job, from speaking to a broad spectrum of Iraqis to find out who they wanted as a leader.
Instead, members of the Governing Council forced powerful politicians with vested interests into key leadership positions.
Insiders worry they will hold onto that power, elections or not.
Enough to Deeply Sadden Tommy 'Puff' Daschle...
How do these Muslim leaders say this with a straight face?
You can say that again!
Perhaps the Moooslims simply forget to put < / sarcasm> at the end of their statements?
How very right you are!!!
Right on everything but particularly about the pure EVIL of the media! They call Fox News - a fascist channel for the neo-cons - Faux News!
But then they speak better french than english. ; )
ScaniaBoy
(Democracy takes about a dozen Arabic words to partially explain, and even then it's almost unrecognizable.)
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