Iraqi newspapers urge new leaders to heal divisions(AFP)14 February 2005
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s press on Monday welcomed the election results, which delivered victory to the long-oppressed Shiite majority, but questioned what the future held for the nation’s fledgling democracy and efforts to end a deadly Sunni insurgency.
“Iraq’s difficult situation requires strong power based on a courageous leader... to put Iraq on the path of stability and development,” said the Baghdad daily.
“The strong leader we want is he who gives more freedom but is also the most able to end the chaos,” said the newspaper, which is close to interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
The results from the January 30 election showed the main clergy-backed Shiite list winning about 48 percent of the vote, followed by the main Kurdish parties with a quarter of the votes and Allawi’s list which netted 13.8 percent.
Sunnis, in power under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, largely boycotted the vote or were afraid to turn out because of security worries.
Al-Mashriq said it feared divisions emerging in the country.
“Whatever the election result, the worry is not about the number of seats that this or that list gets, but the fear, the whole fear that the balance has been broken,” it said.
“The word “consensus’ is beautiful, but also difficult to realise... Agree amongst yourselves and ally yourselves and put to one side the operations of adding and subtracting because Iraq rejects division.”
The pro-government Al-Sabah daily looked to the losers, saying that the elections “have given a lot of seats to a small number of parties”.
“More than 100 lists stayed out of parliament,” it said, advising them to “abandon politics if they see that their popular support is insufficient”.
“They can also find allies among the other losing lists and form a bigger coalition for the next election... Whatever they do, they have nine months to decide,” it said.
The next elections are set for December after the constitution has been drawn up and put to referendum.
The Kurdish daily Al-Ittihad asked: “And what if the president is a Kurd?”
“This desire seemed like an impossible dream last year, but today, following the big (Kurdish) victory, the name of Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is among those put forward for the post,” it said.
“This demand is not only made by the political class, especially among liberals, but also by the average citizen, especially in the south of Iraq.”