IT has taken a long time but the naming of a new Iraq prime minister and selection of a new president by the new Parliament represents a significant step on the country’s progress toward a new multiethnic future. While Shiite Ibrahim Jaafari was named as Iraq’s Kurdish leader, Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes the first non-Arab to head an Arab state. That is a clear statement that sectarian nationalism cannot form the basis for sound politics and it will surely help keep Iraq together as a cohesive entity.
The convoluted constitutional process that has brought Iraqis thus far has been criticized for its unwieldiness. But most Iraqis are generally content with an arrangement that ensures that their country’s politicians work together on the basis of consensus. Extremists within the different communities have not found a way to exploit the delays caused by weeks of negotiations.
The men of violence have of course continued their campaign but their power to influence events has come ever weaker. Their problem is that while Iraqis have no love for the occupation forces, they are not prepared to go back to the days of Saddam Hussein when capricious violence and terror were meted out by the state on a daily basis. They see in their new interim government, however distant at this moment, a means to build a peaceful future.
Nor should it be overlooked that the long delay in agreeing on a head of state has been caused in large part, not by personality conflict but by differences over policy. The leaders of Iraq’s different communities have not stooped to personal attacks but have promoted their positions on the basis of compromise and consensus. This is a profoundly encouraging development. President Talabani has two deputies, one the former interim president Ghazi Yawar, a Sunni and the other the outgoing finance minister in the Allawi government, Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite. So already Iraqi politicians are going out of their way to establish a political balance. The Sunni community ought in time to recognize that they are not being excluded from the new Iraq as they have been led to believe by the men of violence in their midst.
The debate in the next few days will shift to the allocation of portfolios within his government. Though the main role of the interim administration will be the preparation of a permanent new constitution and the organization of final elections in December, the psychological impact of a government that has been created entirely by Iraqis for Iraqis is likely to be equally important. The men of violence will naturally try and target members of the new administration. Even if they succeed in mounting an attack with horrible results, it will only redouble the determination of Iraqis to create a functioning political consensus. That is one of those cases of unintended consequences. Having lived through the worst the terrorists had to offer, Iraqis have learned that the best way to defeat terror is to get on with your life regardless. Talabani’s inauguration yesterday has proved that, as has the choice of the new prime minister.
