WAR: Al-Sistanis Ticket Likely to Lead in Iraq

The slate of candidates as endorsed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani will in all likelihood emerge as the dominant party after the elections. Followers of the Shiite cleric have stated that they are not looking to create a Islamic state, and will have to forge a coalition government in order to rule. Al-Sistani in the past has expressed a opinion that clerics should not rule.



No doubt that Al-Sistani has played his cards well. He also seems to be putting some distance between the hardline Shiites in Iran as well. No doubt as the article points out he will insist that any new constitution follow Islamic laws and the like. He also will and is exerting a huge amount of influence over the members of his slate. It is unclear if interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi loses that the new administration will ask the U.S. to leave. AT any rate any new government may insist on a timetable at the very least.

[edit on 1/24/05 by FredT]

I'm hopeful about an al-Sistani endorsed ticket. He seems pretty sane and I think he'll temper the Shi'ite majority from forming an Islamic state such as Iran. I doubt anyone who wins will ask the U.S. to leave anytime soon, why would they when that would make them more vulnerable to a terrorist overthrow.

Strange that just yesterday, another ATS member posted that Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was the leading Shi'ite candidate for Prime Minister.

Does al-Hakim have the support of al-Sistani?



seekerof

[edit on 24-1-2005 by Seekerof]

Yes:
From the same article.

The United Iraqi Alliance includes the country's two major Shiite political parties — the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party.

The Supreme Council's leader, Shiite cleric Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, is an assembly candidate but is not expected to seek a post in the new administration.

The others vieing for the job:
Others from the ticket who aspire for the post are interim Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Dawa, nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani and secular Shiite politician Ahmad Chalabi, once a Washington favorite to replace Saddam Hussein

[edit on 1/24/05 by FredT]

Originally posted by Seekerof
Strange that just yesterday, another ATS member posted that Abdul Aziz al-Hakim was the leading Shi'ite candidate for Prime Minister.

Does al-Hakim have the support of al-Sistani?

Al-Hakim's party is a part of the United Iraqi Alliance.
It's strange that Yahoo is saying he will not seek a post in the new government because many other articles I've seen had him slated to be the next PM.

Yahoo

The United Iraqi Alliance includes the country's two major Shiite political parties — the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party.

The Supreme Council's leader, Shiite cleric Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, is an assembly candidate but is not expected to seek a post in the new administration.

Earlier polls by the IRI had Al-Hakim as the popular choice.

Juan Cole
Support

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim 51.27%

Ayad Allawi 47.01

Muqtada al-Sadr 45.82

Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum 37.51

Hussein Hadi al-Sadr 35.70

EDIT: Fred beat me to it while I was looking for the link to the IRI poll.

[edit on 24-1-2005 by AceOfBase]

I found a New York Times article that mentions the move away from an Islamic government and the reasons behind it:

NY Times

The decision to exclude clerics from the government appears to mean that Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a cleric who is the chief of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the scion of a prominent religious family and an oft-mentioned candidate for prime minister, would be relegated to the background. The five Shiites most likely to be picked as prime minister are well-known secular figures.

Shiite leaders say their decision to move away from an Islamist government was largely shaped by the presumption that the Iraqi people would reject such a model. But they concede that it also reflects certain political realities - American officials, who wield vast influence here, would be troubled by an overtly Islamist government. So would the Kurds, who Iraqi and American officials worry might be tempted to break with the Iraqi state.

My apologies for missing that tid bit, FredT.
I also concur with both AceOfBase and yourself on how one article stipulates contrary to what another mentions.

Typo? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Irregularity? Big time.

I guess all we can do is to wait and see who al-Sistani comes out and publically backs.

Very odd, though.



seekerof

No worries. Its going to be impossible really to keep track opf who is who as there is like 110+ Slates of candidates running Sheesh, and we have problems with just a 2 party system.