Shias secure majority in Iraqi assembly

IRAQ’S Shia alliance won a slim majority of seats in the new National Assembly, the Electoral Commission said yesterday, securing them power after decades of domination by minority Sunnis.

Based on final results from last month’s historic election, the United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of mainly Shiite Islamic religious parties, was allocated 140 seats in the 275-seat National Assembly, the Electoral Commission said.

Another 75 seats went to a Kurdish bloc that polled the second-highest number of votes in the 30 January ballot.

Many Sunni Arabs failed to vote, through a combination of boycott and fear of Sunni insurgents battling the United States-backed administration.

An Alliance leader seen as a potential prime minister said the Sunnis must now take part in drafting a constitution, otherwise, some fear, sectarian tension could become civil war.

A two-thirds majority is required to approve the appointment of a president and two vice-presidents, the next step in the electoral process. The Shia alliance and Kurdish bloc are expected to work together to form such a majority.

The three-person presidency will name a prime minister and a cabinet. The Alliance’s Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is front-runner to be prime minister, said the nomination had yet to be decided and that talks on the top jobs would take "a couple more days".

A group led by Iyad Allawi, the present interim prime minister, a secular Shiite, won 40 seats in the election.

The election dramatically shifted power to the majority Shiites who watched many Sunnis enjoy considerable privileges under Saddam Hussein. Some fear the transition of power could stoke sectarian tensions and fuel the Sunni-led insurgency.

Leading figures have said the cabinet should include Sunnis and Mr Jaafari stressed that it was crucial they get involved in drawing up a constitution, the new parliament’s main task. "We cannot consider the constitution as complete and perfect unless all Iraqis participate in its drafting," he said.

US military officers and Iraqi officials do not expect the election, which drew an unexpectedly high turnout of 58 per cent, to defuse the revolt by Saddam loyalists and Islamic militants.

The Alliance polled about 48 per cent of the national vote - some way less than the 60 per cent they had hoped for. The Kurds won almost 26 per cent and Mr Allawi about 14 per cent.

Only 12 of the 111 parties and candidate lists that competed in Iraq’s election got enough votes to qualify for seats in the National Assembly.

Because dozens of parties failed to muster enough votes to gain seats, those parties that were elected to parliament have a larger share of seats than their share of the vote.

The results came as Shiites mark Ashura, an annual ritual that honours the 7th century death of Mohammad’s grandson. At Ashura last year, 170 people were killed by suicide bombers in Karbala and Baghdad. This year, authorities are again bracing themselves for suicide bombings against Shiites during the event.