Iraq's Sunni President Says Polls Should Go Ahead

Reuters ^ | Wed Dec 1 | Luke Baker and Mussab al-Khairalla

[West Coast Conservative]

Iraq's president said on Wednesday that elections should go ahead next month as planned, distancing himself from other leading Sunni Arab politicians who are demanding the polls be postponed due to widespread unrest.

Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni businessman and tribal elder who was appointed to the largely symbolic post of president in June, is the first prominent Sunni to reject calls for a delay.

"We must go ahead with elections, from a legal and a moral point of view," Yawar told a news conference in Baghdad.

Iraq's interim constitution, endorsed by the United Nations, says elections must be held by the end of January to select a transitional assembly which will pick a new cabinet and oversee the drafting of a permanent constitution.

"These elections have been planned for eight months," Yawar said. "It's my personal view they should go ahead on time."

The U.S. military says it will crack down on insurgents in rebel strongholds by the end of the year to improve security in time for the elections. On Wednesday, hundreds of U.S. and British troops raided homes in the lawless area just south of Baghdad, detaining 15 suspected guerrillas.

[RockinRight]

The elections will happen, and millions of Iraqis will participate in their first real election in their lifetimes.

[RightWhale]

Can they create a Constitutional Republic in place of thaumatarchy? Surely if India can do it, Iraq should do it even better.

[airborne]

I heard on the radio that the 82ND will be sending 2 battalions to Iraq to help with election security.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Good news. Sunnis coming to realization that insurgency is a dead end - better get with this democracy program.

[Blowtorch]

Sunnis coming to realization that insurgency is a dead end - better get with this democracy program.

With this announcement, it seems as if the scales have finally tipped towards a free Iraq that will be accepted by even the Sunnis. This is a major accomplishment. I don't think this Sunni leader would have come out in support of the upcoming elections as he has if we had not cleared out Fallujah.

[js1138]

Iraq has the advantage of having three rival factions divided by a common religion. It's really the best possible starting point for a constitutional democracy. It's how we started.

Success is not guaranteed.