Word: seculare
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...election raises as many questions as it answers. What will be the precise makeup of the governing coalition? Will the government be primarily religious or secular? Will the new government, which will be charged with drafting a new constitution and with appointing a prime minister, be friendly to the U.S.? Will the new Iraqi democracy be unduly influenced by its authoritarian neighbors, including Iran? These and many other questions will have to be answered by the administration before it can declare that its experiment in enforced democratic transformation is a success...
...Allawi's best bet would be to draw the Kurds into his own bloc. But the Kurds, secular and seperatist, they are hardly natural allies for the moderate Islamist-nationalist UIA list assembled under the auspices of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Still, they may see the Sistani list as a more viable government, if they can strike a deal that gives the Shiites the power they seek in Baghdad in exchange for de facto Kurdish independence in the northern provinces - largely at the expense of Sunni Arabs and ethnic Turkmen in Kirkuk and other contested areas. Ultimately, however, the Kurds...
...prospects for a new government has focused on the question of drawing in the alienated Sunnis in the hope of undercutting the insurgency, and of containing Kurdish independence ambitions. But those issues may yet be eclipsed by a power struggle between the Shiite coalition and the pro-U.S. secular groups headed by Allawi. The rules of the game give Allawi openings to maneuver for power even if his opponents win a clear majority of the vote and the seats in the National Assembly. But Shiite leaders - none more so than Grand Ayatollah Sistani himself - have long questioned some...
...International Republican Institute, whose board members include various GOP luminaries, are talking up U.S.-appointed prime minister Iyad Allawi's chances of beating the odds and staying in office. The reason? The strong clerical influence in the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance list may well be alienating more secular Shiites. Still, the more widely held view is that the best Allawi can hope for is a good second-place showing behind the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance list backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. But the Guardian notes even a second-place finish could see Allawi keep the prime minister...
...dominated United Iraqi Alliance, backed by Sistani. But the extent of its dominance remains to be seen. There were indications in the weeks preceding the election that the coalition of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was reeling in the UIA's lead, drawing support not only from a middle class secular constituency but also from Shiites wary of giving clerics political authority. Allawi may have been helped by what appears to have been a de facto boycott by supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, on whose votes the UIA may have been counting. Indeed, if the 57 percent turnout...